Before the Break
by maispecialk
Summary: Takes place before my fic Fractured Flock. This explains how Max ended up with Dylan in FF and covers the time between FANG and FF. How did Max eventually move on? This is how. M for safety, since that's what FF was, and probably for language too.
1. The missing chapter

**Back again! This is the prequel to Fractured Flock (FF). You CAN begin reading it here, if you haven't read that one already, but it might make more sense the other way around. As you guys review *hint hint!* let me know which one you read first and how you like it pleeease! **

**A warning: This isn't Fax. If you want Fax see FF. This is Mylan? Dax? Dunno. **

**Eventually I'll probably work in Fang's POV and explain stuff with he and Nat. If lost, again see FF. Confused yet?**

**A friendly reminder that I do NOT own Maximum Ride and unless JP suffers an unfortunate accident and leaves the rights to me I never will…so, I never will. Enjoy!**

***The Missing Chapter***

"Max, are you sure about this?" Dylan asked nervously. I rolled my eyes, yet again. I was beginning to wonder if his wings were even real with how nervous he sounded.

"Dylan, I am positive." I said, scooting closer to the edge of the roof.

"Welcome to Maximum Ride's School of Flight. Please keep all arms and legs attached to the body at all times as we are not responsible for broken or missing appendages and enjoy your flight." I mocked a flight attendant. I put my hand to Dylan back and pushed. I watched his descent with mild interest, having done this tons of times already with the younger kids.

Sure enough, like clockwork he got halfway down and I saw his feathers ruffling.

"That's what I'm talking about!" I cheered from the roof. Dylan was still falling but not nearly as fast anymore.

"Wow!" I heard Dylan laughing with joy, amazed that he had picked up so quickly. He hovered for a second before he seemed stuck.

"Um…Max?" He shouted up at me.

"Yo!"

"What do I do now?" He asked nervously. Amateurs.

I hovered down to his height and floated gracefully next to him.

"Okay, you've got the flapping thing down. Cool. But there is more to it. You need to be able to…steer, I guess is the right word." I supplied.

"And how do I do that?" He asked, seemingly a little frustrated.

"These are you primaries. Angle them in the direction you want to go." I directed, poking those feathers lightly.

"And flying is like running. The harder you flap and the more energy you put into it the faster you will go. Got it?" I asked.

He nodded nervously. He didn't get it.

"Just try it. It sounds harder than it is."

It took him a couple of tries but eventually he got it. He wasn't as graceful as the rest of us, but at least he could survive a fall, maybe even fly to the next town now. Not bad for only one day's progress.

"You picked it up pretty quick." I complimented him as he pulled twigs and leaves out of his hair. He had accidently steered into some huge oak branches bringing some foliage with him.

"Really?" He asked with surprise.

I nodded. He learned quicker than the younger kids but that's probably because he was older. I was trying to remember how old I was when I started flying when Dylan's voice interrupted me.

"It's just because I had a good teacher." He smirked with a wink, and strolled into the living room. I fought the blush coming to my cheeks and began looking for my boyfriend. Little did I know that this was just one in a long string of awkward moments between Dylan and me.


	2. Running Away

**So Vampire Princess 156 suggested Before the Break as the title of this 'fic, so I think I'm renaming it. :) For the record I am up WAYYYYYYYYYY too early. I would like to pleasantly remind you that I own nothing associated with Maximum Ride and happy reading!**

***A few months post-FANG***

I felt like a ghost standing outside of my own body. I knew what I was doing, but I couldn't stop myself. I was so angry, hurt, and devastated that nothing could stop me, including me.

"Max! Stop!"

Someone was shouting at me. I couldn't even tell who at this point. I knew it wasn't Fang. He'd left me. I knew it wasn't Angel either. She was gone too.

That left Iggy, Dylan, Nudge, and Gazzy. I felt two strong arms wrap around me trying to hold me back. I struggled but couldn't break myself free.

"Max, calm down. It's okay. I promise." I heard a voice whisper in my ear but I kept flailing. Dylan.

That's when I heard the crying. Little hiccups came from the corner and I saw tears leaking out of Gazzy's eyes.

My little trooper. He was crying because of me.

"This is it, Max! You've gone too far! Either you're moping and crying all the time or you're on some stupid pointless rampage! No wonder Angel wanted to be leader! She probably saw this coming!" Iggy yelled absolutely furious, with good reason.

I looked around unable to believe that I'd done all this damage. I was in Fang's old room and it was completely trashed. Clothes and glass were scattered everywhere. I'd smashed the tv screen to bits. The room looked like a tornado had hit it.

"Iggy, you're being too hard on her." I heard Dylan object, no longer holding me back but still close.

"No, he's right. I should..." I should go. But if I said that I knew they wouldn't let me leave.

"Max, I'm sorry. But this is what you would want if you were yourself. You'd want to make sure we were safe." Iggy said quietly.

"What are you doing?" Nudge asked.

I felt Iggy pick me up, which wasn't what I expected.

"Iggy, stop! This isn't necessary! She was starting to calm down!" Dylan objected, but wouldn't physically stop him.

"Iggy! Stop it!" I yelled. He threw me on my bed.

"We'll talk in the morning. Please, get some rest." He pleaded, sounding a little remorseful closing the door behind him.

I got up and tried to get out of my room but the door was locked. As security measures on the house, doors locked from the outside could only be unlocked from the outside. Doors locked from the inside could only be unlocked from the inside.

We could lock Erasers in or out of our rooms like cages if they attacked us. Right now I was the one caged in and I was furious.

"Dammit, Iggy! Let me out of here! What the Hell do you think you're doing?" I screamed. I stopped though when I heard them outside the door talking.

"I checked the room earlier and took out everything sharp." Nudge said sadly.

"Do you really think Max would do that?" Dylan asked skeptically.

"This isn't Max anymore. I would trust Max with my life, but I wouldn't trust her with a cookbook. She'd probably paper cut herself to death." Iggy sighed miserably.

"I'm sorry, Gazzy. She'll get better. She just needs some time." I heard Nudge say softly, trying to comfort Gazzy. He didn't say anything in response, just squelched a small sob.

"Let's hit the sack guys." Dylan ordered.

This was what Dylan had been doing lately. He made sure everyone had showers, put on their pajamas and went to bed. He made sure meals were fixed, and even managed to do little things that made the Flock happy. He didn't think I noticed the other day when he brought Gazzy a bundle of fuses, but I'd seen the hand off. Even with the firepower they weren't blowing the house up because Dylan was keeping them in line.

Dylan was keeping everything in working order. So why did I need to be here?

I thought about Gazzy crying and pulled my pack out of the closet. I refused to hurt my own Flock, even if it meant me leaving too.

I threw in the basics, a toiletry bag, some clothes, and of course the letter that he left. I zipped it up and tried to open my window, but it had been locked from the outside. The windows had the same mechanisms on them as the doors, so I couldn't unlock it. I had to break the window. If I broke the glass everyone would know I was trying to leave and come restrain me again. Mom was staying in the next town over, in the nearest hotel. They'd call her and make her come sedate me. Over my dead body. So, I started fiddling with the lock. After bending it out of shape I was able just to rip the lock right from the window and open up the glass pane. I flew up taking one last look at the house that held so many memories, good, bad, and bittersweet and flew off into the night.


	3. Caught

**Woot for action scenes! Friendly reminder that I own nothing Maximum Ride. **

I'd been flying for about an hour and I was exhausted. I didn't know that blacking out from rage took so much out of you. I felt my eyes drooping and I shook myself awake. I needed to look for a place to sleep tonight. I found a tall tree and began scoping the area, when I heard a twig snap.

"Dammit!" I heard a whisper. I began sneaking toward the direction where I heard the voice to find a jawed, foaming mouth racing toward me. Erasers.

"Grab her arms!" I heard him scream as he tried to snap at my neck. I blacked out again, feeling my body punching, kicking, grabbing, whatever it could do to defend itself, still blinded from leftover rage. There were only four of them and I'd already taken down one. I could see him lying face down in the woods, not waking up anytime soon. I head butted another, not feeling any pain from all the adrenaline, but saw him clutching his head desperately before falling to his knees. I felt cuffs lock around my wrist tightly. Too tightly. They were cutting off circulation and my hands were getting numb. I began using the rest of my body trying to defend myself. I would worry about the cuffs later. I turned, glaring at the Eraser that had put me in cuffs. I put my head down and charged at him with full speed. I sank my shoulder into his stomach spearing him into the nearest tree. I heard his head hit with a thump and he was out cold. I looked around for the last one but couldn't see anything. I heard the flutter of wings heading east and looked up to see him flying away, his face bitter and unsuccessful.

I breathed in heavily, finally feeling the sensation returning to my body. I was tired, almost ready to pass out. I'd used a lot of energy, but I fought the urge to sleep knowing that I needed to get as far away as possible. I ran for a few minutes, leaving the useless Erasers behind me in the woods. When I was far enough away, I laid on my back. It's already incredibly uncomfortable, but even more so when you have twigs and leaves poking you in your wings. I ignored it though, knowing that I needed to free my hands. I remembered an old trick Jeb had taught me at the E-Shaped house. I felt another surge of sadness, but fought it back. I was almost ready to give up and go to sleep right then. I rolled onto my back as far up as I could go and tried to swing my arms under me. I cried out as I dislocated my shoulder doing it but my breath was heaving when I saw my hands in front of me. I wasn't as flexible as I used to be but it worked! At least my hands were in front of me now. I saw the blood gushing from the restraints, but could hardly feel it they were so tight. I saw little cuts and a couple of huge gashes, but I never expected to be bleeding that much.

I wiggled my wrists around with little success. I couldn't squeeze out of the cuffs. They were too tight. I grunted as I threw my wrist into a nearby tree, trying to break the cuffs. No good. I tried again. Still no luck. Finally I tried smashing the lock on a stump. It didn't break completely but it loosened at least. As the feeling returned to my wrists I realized how much they hurt. Focus, Max! Get these things off! Between the little space that I had and the sweat I'd worked up I managed to slip one hand out of the cuffs. YES! I walked to my pack and rummaged through it. Finally! A paper clip! It was from my Romeo and Juliet essay from when we stayed with Anne and I used this as a normal backpack for school. I bent it, like I'd seen Iggy do a million times. I stared down trying to pick the lock on the other cuff. Come on! I closed my eyes. Iggy does this blind. He didn't use his sight, he used feeling. I was desperate. I'd try it too. Finally I felt the lock give and the cuff fall to the ground with a clink. I let out a long breath and leaned against the tree. I should bandage up, but I'd do that later. After I slept.


	4. Waking up

**Posting chapter and going back to bed. Long story. Don't own Max...**

"Dammit, Max!"

I was dizzy, and woozy. I opened my eyes a little.

"Dylan?" I muttered in confusion.

Normally I dreamt about Fang. Why was I dreaming about Dylan? I must have mumbled the question out loud because I actually got an answer.

"You're not dreaming, Max. Oh my God. There's so much…" He whispered, sounding a little scared.

"Dylan, I'm fine. Just let me go back to sleep." I mumbled sleepily. I began drifting off to sleep when I felt a jarring feeling, like he was lifting me up. I was going to protest but his arms were nice and warm, and I just realized that I felt a little cold.

"Not good. Not good at all. Max! Stay with me! Max, wake up!" Dylan was shouting. We were flying and I could feel the wind, which was making me colder.

"Just going to sleep…" I murmured, snuggling closer and finally passing out.

When I woke up I was in a warm, cozy bed. The pillows were soft with fresh sheets. Nope, not my bed. I pulled myself up lazily and looked around.

"Thank God!" My mom rushed to my side. Ella was sitting beside me in a small wooden chair with tears in her eyes.

They both squeezed me tightly.

I looked beside me to see Dylan sprawled on top of the sheets drooling lightly. What had happened?

"You could have just called if you wanted to see me!" Mom was trying to joke but her voice was shaky and nervous.

"What happened?" I wondered out loud. I must be in Mom and Ella's hotel room.

"You almost died, Max! If Dylan hadn't found you…!" Ella choked a little.

"Dylan found you in the woods. Apparently you'd been fighting Erasers. He saw where you'd undone the handcuffs but somehow you cut your wrist on them. You nicked an artery and you were bleeding out! He brought you here. He's refused to leave your side ever since. He started donating blood because you lost so much. Eventually he passed out from exhaustion and here you are." Mom explained.

The other bed was disheveled and worn in. Obviously she and Ella had been sharing that one when all this happened.

"I'm such an idiot…" I muttered, slapping my forehead.

"You lost a lot of blood, Max. Dylan donated a lot. If it weren't for him…well, let's just say you're lucky to have him around." Mom summed up.

"I guess."

I lay back against the headboard, hungry, thirsty, and strangely enough, still tired.

"I'll call Iggy and let him know you're okay." Ella offered. I nodded lightly, closing my eyes and going back to sleep.

***The next morning***

"Good morning, Champ!" Iggy smiled, scrambling some eggs and throwing them in the frying pan. I was still in Mom and Ella's hotel room, but Nudge, Iggy, and Gazzy were here. Nudge and Ella were looking at some magazine. Gazzy was playing with his Nintendo DS that Mom had gotten him for Christmas. Iggy was making breakfast. Dylan was sitting up in the bed next to me ruffling his hair, apparently just waking up too.

"Sorry." He said quickly, throwing himself out of bed with an embarrassed look.

"Um, I think you have that backwards. I should probably be apologizing to you." I offered quietly.

He looked confused. Maximum Ride is not well known for apologizing.

"I'm really sorry, to all of you guys. I've been a real as…butthole to you guys. This has just been really hard on me. And instead of being grateful for you guys for staying with me I've been too busy pouting over the ones who left." I spoke up, feeling awfully embarrassed myself.

Iggy was right. Maximum Ride had checked out and been replaced by some pathetic whimpering excuse of a person. No more. No more crying, moping, or tantrums. That person was gone. Maximum Ride was back!

"Are you sure you don't want to come back with us? At least for a little while?" Mom asked one last time.

"We've got to get back to normal, Mom." I answered. I had to get back to normal.

"If you change your mind…" She offered.

"We'll call first." I laughed. "We'll come visit soon. I promise."

"Okay." She said giving me one last hug.

She turned to Dylan and gave him one too.

"Thank you so much, Dylan. Please look after her." She pled to him

"I will Dr. Martinez. I'll call you if we need help." He answered.

"Call me Val." She smiled back. I rolled my eyes to Ella and she giggled a little, heading to give Iggy a hug.

After goodbyes were shared all around I went back into leader mode, a place I hadn't been in a long time. I hadn't realized that I'd missed it, or how comfortable it was.

"U and A guys." I ordered getting a running start. The Flock followed behind me.

"What are we going to do when we get back, Max?" Dylan asked while we were flying.

It was a weird déjà vu type feeling, knowing that I'd done this so many times with Fang. He and I talking while the younger ones followed behind joking and laughing, all flying in midair.

"We're going to clean. " I told him. He looked confused but just shrugged.

Before he could fly off I got his attention.

"Hey Dylan. Thanks. I mean, finding me, taking me to my mom's, the blood. I…I owe you." I said quietly.

Dylan just smiled and I was simply dazzled by the sight. His smile was infectious, making me want to smile too. I felt my face warming and intentionally tried to look passive.

"Just looking out for you, Max. Someone has to." He winked.

I fought back unhappy thoughts and blinked back tears. He was right, I guess. Fang was gone so there was no one to look out for me anymore. Nice to know I had Dylan to fall back on.


	5. Out with the old and in with the new

**Good morning! Going to be hanging in the pool today! Hooray for summer! JP still owns MR. **

***A couple days later***

"Think of it as a fresh start, guys." I said, with fake cheerfulness. I looked around the room dismally, as I realized what a huge task we had in front of us.

"What are we going to do with his stuff?" Nudge asked miserably.

We were cleaning out Fang's room. Every trace of him was going to be gone. Out of sight, out of mind. Hopefully. I handed her a trash bag.

"We can't throw his stuff out!" She shrieked, offended at the thought.

"No, we can't Nudge." I wish we could, but I wasn't there. Yet. "Just put it in the bag and we'll put it in the attic." I answered.

She nodded. Everyone grabbed their bags and started working. Fang had taken most of his clothes, but had left some. I guess it was what wouldn't fit in the bag. I started stripping the bed and throwing the sheets and comforter in a couple of bags.

I shook off thoughts from when I sat on the bed, laughing and holding hands with Fang. I thought back to when we leaned against the headboard, stealing kisses and cuddling while watching the tiny little television that was now smashed to pieces.

"You okay?" Dylan asked delicately.

"Yep." I answered, taking a breath. I wasn't okay. Not by a long shot.

I broke down in a small sob and rushed out, hopefully before anyone noticed. No such luck.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm here, Max." Dylan said gently, pulling me to him. I hiccupped a little and wiped my eyes.

"No! I'm the leader! I can't do this! No crying! Suck it up! Go back in there, and get to work!" I scolded myself.

The shock on Dylan's face was priceless. He never expected me to pull it together so quick. But that's what you do when you're Invincible Max. And Invincible Max was back, I swore.

"You don't have to be so strong all the time, Max." He offered, smoothing my disheveled hair.

Maybe, maybe not. But I had to be that strong now.

We kept going for a couple hours until everything Fang related was removed from the room. The only way you could tell he ever lived here was by the black paint on the walls. The room looked empty and hollow.

"Good job, guys. Really great. Now, let's get ready and go shopping." I said with resolve.

"Oh great. She's lost it again." Iggy muttered.

"Max, you hate shopping." Nudge managed.

"I like shopping a lot more when ice cream is involved, which it will be. Besides, some of us need a few necessities." I said, not trying to give anymore away than I had to.

***A few minutes later***

"Alright guys, let's break. Meet up right back here in…an hour?" I guessed when we arrived at the nearest mall. Everyone nodded in agreement. "Dylan, you're coming with me. Let's go." I ordered. He looked confused but didn't argue. He'd learned better than to argue with me now.

"What are we doing, Max?" He asked.

"You need to get stuff for your room. Bedding, pictures, whatever, so, pick out what you want." I shrugged, trying to act like this wasn't a big deal, but it was. By giving Dylan Fang's room I was admitting, at least to myself, that he wasn't coming back…at least not for 20 years. The sadness turned to anger again, but I blocked it out.

"I'm getting a room?" Dylan asked excitedly. So far he'd slept on the couch because I wasn't ready to move on and give him Fang's room, but it was time. Out with the old, in with the new, I guess.

"You can have Fang's old room…if you want it. And if you're planning to stick around." I answered, trying not to choke on his name at all.

To my surprise Dylan threw his arms around me and spun me around. "Of course! Where else would I go?" He asked like I was stupid.

He sat me back down on my feet and I scowled a little.

"Too much? Sorry." He apologized, seeing the unhappy look on my face.

I nodded in agreement and we started looking.

"No Max, I'm not going anywhere. Not ever." He answered with a smile.


	6. Not so sweet sixteen

**Happy Saturday! Lots of painting for me today. Have fun and I still don't own Max. **

***A year after Fang's leaves…more or less.***

I woke up lazily and stared at the ceiling waiting for the attack that I knew would be coming any minute. Sure enough a few seconds later my door busted open and I was swarmed with bird kids.

"Happy Birthday!" Everyone shouted to each other.

We were doing the same thing as last year, all turning one year older on the same day. I saw Nudge come in with a light blue mini cake, half the size of a regular one with a candle on it. I sat up in bed as she held the cake in front of me. I blew out the candle and muttered a quick thanks. I couldn't help but remember this time last year. It was the best birthday I had ever had.

I was turning 15 then and Fang was by my side. Angel was still here too…not quite the evil backstabbing wench she'd turned out to be in the end. Sure, she was sad when Fang left, but there was still bad blood between us. Both of us being in the house together made it tense and unbearable for the others. One day we woke up to find her gone. She'd left a note saying goodbye. Of course Gazzy took it the worst but he is the toughest little guy that I know. I think deep down he felt like he'd already lost his sister and that she'd been replaced with someone else, someone he didn't know. I focused now on my cake wondering if it was chocolate or yellow cake inside, in an effort to distract myself. No crying today, I promised myself. Yeah, right.

"Everyone else's are in the kitchen, but we wanted to surprise you when you woke up! I'll go put it on the table, okay? Just come on out and we can have cake for breakfast!" Nudge squealed.

"Thanks a lot guys. Happy birthday! I'll be right out, okay?" I managed a fake smile and politely shoved everyone out.

But not everyone was going. Dylan stood without moving in the middle of my floor and I noticed the object in his hands and cringed. No way, no how.

"Nudge told me something interesting." He smiled.

"That it is physically possible to walk and chew gum at the same time?" I quipped, hardly feeling in the mood for this.

Dylan just ignored me and rolled his eyes. He had been around me way too much. "She told me that the sixteenth birthday is a big deal, especially for girls. She called this your 'Sweet Sixteen'." He began.

"Does it seem like I'm a 'Sweet Sixteen' kind of person? I may be close to sixteen but we don't know exactly. And the sweet thing…well, you've lived with me for about a year, so you know exactly how sweet I'm not."

"I think you're sweet Max. You're really sweet to the kids. And for that I think you deserve a little bit of normal in your life. So, I want you to have a normal, sweet sixteen kind of birthday." He smiled, taking the little metal tiara and putting it on my head.

"You have to be joking." I mumbled.

"Nudge is excited. Wear it to the kitchen table for her at least. She was a little disappointed that you wouldn't wear a dress for the occasion so I think this is the least you can do." He grinned, lighting up the whole room.

At that moment, my torn in half, ripped apart, stepped on, smashed in pieces broken heart did a little jump for the first time in months. Don't get me wrong, it still hurt, but I felt a little twinge of excitement that I hadn't felt since HE left. The whole shock of the situation made me slightly more agreeable.

"Fine. To the kitchen table. That's it though." I compromised.

"That's it." He agreed, taking a step toward me. I froze, not knowing what to do. That's when he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. The most surprising part? I let him! What was I doing?

"Happy birthday, Max. See you in a few." He beamed like he was feeling extra proud of himself.

"See you in a few." I muttered back. I walked over to the small velvet pouch in my top drawer and pulled out the ring I had received as a gift this time last year and debated in my mind whether I should put it on today.

I couldn't help but be in a better mood when I got to the table and saw everyone had cakes like mine but different colors. Nudge's was pink. Dylan had a yellow one, Iggy's was white and Gazzy's was a bright noxious looking green. How appropriate.

"Happy birthday again, guys. I'm glad we're all here together…" I choked a little at the last word, knowing exactly how untrue it was.

I was summoning all of my self control not to cry…when I got cake to the face. Luckily it wasn't the whole cake, but it was a pretty sizable chunk. I licked the yellow frosting from the tip of my nose and glared at Dylan.

"Now Dylan, I know you're kind of new around here, but we do have a few very important rules. One of the most is we do NOT waste cake!" I laughed, grabbing a chunk of my own and flinging it at his face.

"Food fight!" Gazzy screamed as cake started flying through the air and I heard my Flock the happiest they had been in a year.

I saw a pink chunk soaring toward me and I bolted out of my chair and began running around the table to smash a piece into Nudge's face when I felt a hand grab my wrist.

"I don't think so!" Dylan chuckled, holding what must have been half the cake in his hand.

"Dylan, I'm serious, don't!" I started trying to back away and at that moment a couple things happened at once. My right foot stepped backwards sliding in a bright pink smear on the floor. Dammit Nudge!

I only had a second to realize what was happening as I fell, pulling Dylan's wrist with me. I landed flat on my back, feeling the vibration of the impact shake my wings and Dylan's warm breath on my cheek for a second time that day. I heard him grunt a little and he braced his impact on his left arm and the cake in his right hand go flying, staining his palms bright yellow.

"You okay?" He whispered delicately. The rest of the Flock stood wide eyed and began cleaning themselves up. I nodded.

"How's your arm?" I asked worriedly. The last thing I needed was an injured bird kid. That would have been cue for an Eraser attack and I really could use a couple days down time.

"It's fine. You braced my fall." He smiled. I didn't remember feeling any pressing weight on me, but here he was, lying right on top of me on the hardwood floor of our kitchen.

"I was hungry too…" I muttered in disappointment, seeing most of my cake lying on the floor.

"Want some of mine?" He asked with a chunk of icing on his finger. Soyummy…the cake, I mean. The icing flirted on my lips and the sugar dissolved in my mouth. So yummy…

"Mmm…"

"Awkward. So awkward." I heard Iggy murmur, as the rest of the Flock shuffled down the hall to take showers.

I blushed like crazy and shoved Dylan off of me. "Sorry. I should go ahead and clean this up." I muttered, grabbing the mop.

"I'll help." He volunteered.

"NO! I mean, we should get going soon. I told the others we'd go to a movie today or something. Why don't you go ahead and get ready?" I smiled, trying to hide my discomfort. I was pretty sure Dylan saw through it but he shrugged.

"Let me know if you change your mind." He winked with a smirk.


	7. Never makes bets with a bird kid

**I don't own Maximum Ride. Dang it.**

"No."

I wasn't giving in and I refused to budge on this.

"Please Max! I really want to see it!" Nudge gave me Bambi eyes, which was particularly ironic since she was begging me to see Furry Vengeance, a movie about animals that looked absolutely horrible.

"Come on, Max. You can take a nap. I'll wake you up when it's over." Dylan offered.

"Fine. But I'm getting extra Reece's Pieces." I muttered.

"Score!" Gazzy laughed.

I tried to stay busy during the movie. I downed an extra large Coke and two supersize bags of Reece's Pieces. I even excused myself to go to the bathroom. Even after all that the movie was only half over. I groaned and rolled my eyes.

I felt the armrest between Dylan and me go up and felt his arm snake around my shoulder.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, grateful the dark theater hopefully hid my blushing face.

"All your fidgeting is distracting me. Now go to sleep." He ordered, pulling my head to the crook of his neck.

"Dylan…" I began to protest when Gazzy shushed me from three chairs down.

"Goodnight." Dylan whispered, leaning his head on mine. Like I was really going to sleep now. Psh.

Strangely enough ten or fifteen minutes later I was dreaming. I saw Fang. He looked a couple of years older, more mature. The sun was really high in the sky and really bright, a combination of oranges yellows and pinks, making him glow. Then there were five black shadows standing behind him, but Fang was where I stared. I wondered for a second if one of those shadows was Angel.

"You're…you're back." I muttered. That's when I noticed the warm hand wrapped around mine, gripping me tight. It felt strong and familiar, but I could tell it wasn't Fang's. It was holding me back and I wondered for a moment who it belonged to. Fang opened his mouth to talk, but when he did I only heard barking.

Barking? Weird. He tried again but the same thing happened. I only heard barking. Was that my mind's way of telling me my ex-boyfriend was a huge piece of flaming dog crap for leaving me? I'm no Freud, but I think so.

I bolted awake in the dark theater, jumping with surprise and realizing I was panting a little. I felt a strong warm hand wrapped around mine and recalled the same sensation in my dream. Dylan was holding my hand. I froze for a moment debating to pull away or just leave there as to not call attention to it. Maybe I was desperate, especially after my dream about Fang, but I left it there.

"Alright guys! Lunch time! How about we grab some pizza and then head to the arcade?" I asked. The answer? Cheers all around.

You're probably wondering how we're affording all of this stuff. The truth is after all the stupid, trifling things that Angel had done, signing that contract with the entertainment agency was one of the best things to ever happen to us. We were still getting all the money from it, but without having to do any of the work. Those executives probably loathed the day they agreed to do business with a seven year old. At least now the Flock could have the life they deserved with clean clothes, plenty of food, and occasional fun minus the whole saving the world thing. What can I say? It makes my life easier.

Dylan still held my hand and held the door open for me as we went into Mama Rosa's for pizza. I hoped this place was good because I was starving.

"Aw! You guys are holding hands! Are you going to share a plate of spaghetti too? That was so romantic in the Lady and the Tramp! I love that movie! I mean it's not my favorite Disney movie ever, I think that would probably be Aladdin, but I really liked that one too. When they share the noodle and…" Nudge started rambling but stopped when I pointed my fork at her threateningly. She stopped again and looked back at the menu.

"So, how do you want to do this?" Dylan asked. I could tell he was tucking in his wings even more as he tightened the vest around his chest. I did the same thing. We had eaten lunch and made it to the arcade, all agreeing to a friendly game of laser tag. And in case you don't know about me, friendly is code for super competitive. We were trying to split up teams but were having a difficult time since it was an uneven number.

"Well, I think boys versus girls is probably the fairest way to go." I offered.

"That's three versus two. I could just sit out." He volunteered.

"Trust me, Dylan. You _boys_ are going to need all the help you're going to get." I taunted, grabbing my "gun".

"Oh yeah? You sound pretty sure of that." He smirked.

"Uh oh." Iggy muttered.

"Max, please, don't do anything...stupid." Nudge failed to find another word and left it at that.

"I'm very sure of that. As matter of fact, I'm so sure I'll bet on it."

"Now you're talking." Dylan smiled deviously.

I was stunned for a second as I noticed his gleaming white teeth, his gorgeous turquoise eyes, and his blonde hair falling messily in his face. Whoa, head in the game, Max.

"Name your terms, bird boy." I threatened, narrowing my gaze.

"Easy. I win, we go on a date. You and me. Alone. And you wear a dress. Maybe even heels…if that's what Nudge dresses you in." He stated plainly.

"That's cheating! She's going to sway the game just so she can use me as a Barbie doll!" I protested, though I knew it probably wasn't true.

"I guess you're right…I never thought of that. But since I'm not the scared one I probably wouldn't have…" He mused, trying to bait me. And it worked. No one called me scared. Ever.

"Fine! You're on! But if I win, no more flirting, no more hand holding, no more winking…nothing. And you paint the walls in your room!" I ordered.

"Done."


	8. And the winner is

**I do not own anything Maximum Ride. Oh well, too bad, so sad.**

When the buzzer sounded Nudge and I executed our attack plan. We edged around the perimeter of the arena keeping our backs to the walls, playing defense. We split in opposite directions agreeing to meet at the other side and switch to an offensive strategy from there. I saw Iggy sneaking around one of the walls and froze, knowing he would hear my slightest footstep. His head was peeking out while the wall shielded his body, making it impossible for me to get a shot. I'd have to wait him out. I felt his gaze shift near where I was and started to make a run for it, but Iggy surprised me and jumped. Our bodies flew in midair like a massive bomb had gone off between us and had thrown us in opposite directions. I tried to shoot, but Iggy already had his gun up and was aiming for my vest. His offensive stance shielded his body from my shot. My vest vibrated and flashed red to signal that I'd been hit.

"Got her!" Iggy called, tucking and rolling behind another wall so that I couldn't hit him.

I chased behind him but he kept turning quickly so that I couldn't tag him.

I kept going and eventually caught up with him near the middle of the maze. I stood as still as I could and held my breath to make sure he wouldn't hear me until I had the perfect shot. He muttered a curse word when he felt his vest go off.

I kept going, looking for Nudge but couldn't find her. I was darting down a straight shot when I felt my vest vibrate again! I turned quickly to see Dylan behind me smirking. He'd shot me in the back.

"We've already gotten Nudge three times. Want to call it quits?" He laughed.

"Never!" I growled, aiming for his chest, but it was too late. He'd already bolted in the other direction and turned, heading into the deepest part of the maze.

I clung to one of the walls closer to the outside, waiting. Gazzy turned the corner quickly and tried to turn around but it was no use. I'd already shot him in the chest.

"Dang it!" He kicked, pouting.

The buzzer rang, marking the end of the game. We gathered back in the vest room and looked at the score. The boys had beaten us six to four.

"I tried really hard, Max! I swear!" Nudge protested, but I just ruffled her hair. I believed her. She was too scared of me to have thrown the game on purpose.

"Any plans for Friday night?" Dylan smirked.

I just smacked my forehead. What had I done?


	9. Giving gifts

**I took a nap and when I woke up I owned Maximum Ride! Oh wait, nope. No, I don't own Maximum Ride. Going back to sleep. **

"Alright, present time!" Gazzy shouted, sliding up to the table.

Everyone sat in their seats and I separated the presents into different piles for each person. Paper started shredding open and the squealing began.

"OMG! Max, this is my favorite store! Thank you so so so so so much!" Nudge had obviously opened her gift card.

"There's more. I will even go shopping with you. Once and only once." I agreed, making her smile even more.

"This is the best present ever!"

"Umm…Max?" Iggy asked. I knew where this was going with this.

"Yes, Iggy?"

"Thanks for the piece of paper, but I can't exactly read it." He reminded me. Like I had forgotten or something. I chuckled a little.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry about that, but I thought Gazzy could read it to you since he got the same thing." I suggested.

"This coupon permits the…production of one bomb without consequences…Score!" He shouted, high fiving Iggy.

"Please read the fine print!" I shouted before they got too excited.

"To be used in designated outside areas only and without causing major property damage or bodily injury to self or others…" Gazzy trailed, some of his excitement fading but he still smiled with a shrug.

"OMG! Another one? Thanks Dylan!" Nudge screeched running around the table to hug Dylan. He had gotten her a gift card to the same store I had.

"Unlike Max, I will NOT go with you. You girls have fun." He smiled, hugging her back.

"Great minds think alike." I smiled at him. He winked back pointing to my stack, telling me to get started.

I opened a large square plastic box covered in blue wrapping paper. It was from Iggy and Gazzy. Chocolate chip cookies! On top of the Tupperware was a cd.

"Thanks Iggy! Thank you Gazzy. " I smiled, savoring a bite.

"No problem. I did the cookies and Gazzy made the cd. We didn't think you'd appreciate it as much if it went the other way around." Iggy laughed.

"You're right. You have horrible taste in music." I teased him, though Gazzy and his Constipation Song weren't much better.

"Don't worry, Max. There's no Weird Al." Gazzy smiled, noticing my nervous expression.

"Thanks guys."

"Open mine, Max!" Nudge, of course.

I opened the shoe box to find exactly that. Shoes. A new pair of sneakers to be exact, which I actually desperately needed, but refused to go shopping for.

"Thanks, sweetie." I smiled.

"Here." Dylan shoved a small box my way. A very small, jewelry size box. All of the talking and whispering hushed and the room got quiet.

"What is it? Why is everyone so quiet?" Iggy whispered to Nudge.

"It's um…" She started but didn't know what to say, speechless for once in her life.

"It's jewelry." I answered for her, finding courage. I looked at the ring that I had decided to wear after a few minutes debate this morning thinking about the last time I had gotten jewelry for my birthday.

"Oh…I'm going to go…work on my bomb…or something a lot less awkward than this." Iggy stammered, pushing up from the table.

"Thanks for all the awesome presents." Gazzy smiled happily, trampling off to the backyard.

"I'm going to start looking online." Nudge said smiling, pointing at her gift cards.

"I really know how to clear a room, huh?" I muttered, trying not to tear up. All the presents reminded me of Angel and Fang.

"I know you have the necklace that Angel gave you, but I've never seen you wear it so…"He trailed off.

"Yeah, dead animal bones aren't really my thing…" I laughed nervously, opening the small box.

I opened it up to find a small silver heart, plain and simple enough that I might actually wear it. The chain looked durable enough that it would hold up in a fight, but not so tough that an Eraser could strangle me with it. These are the kind of things you think about when you fight for your life on a daily basis, people.

"Oh wow. That's really pretty. Thanks Dylan." I said sincerely. It actually surprised me that I sounded so happy about it.

"Sure. I'm glad you like it." He said, taking it in his hands and stepping behind me.

His hands brushed up against my neck as he put it on me. I shivered a little involuntarily.

I looked in the box to find a little slip of paper.

'A heart, because you'll always have mine. Love, Dylan.'

I didn't know what to say so I ignored it, but I looked at him and he gazed back knowing that I had read it.

"I'll always be here, Max. Don't forget that." He said intensely. I fumbled a little looking for words to lighten the situation.

"Your gift is in your room. It's from all of us. I had Jeb put it up while we were out today." I blurted, trying to change the subject. We walked in to see the new flat screen tv mounted on his wall. It was a pretty small television but hopefully he liked it.

"Wow, thanks Max! That's awesome! Iggy and Gazzy will be so jealous they'll want to bring the Xbox in!" He smiled, flopping on the bed finding the remote.

"No problem…sorry about the last one." I muttered, referring to the one that I had smashed in my fit of rage.

"Are you kidding? This one is way better! Totally worth living without one for a year!" He smiled.

"Glad you like it." I smiled giving a little wave and heading to my room.


	10. The date

**I do not own Maximum Ride. I think I'll try to take over the world instead. **

I was pacing around my room listening to the cd that Gazzy had made me for my birthday while Nudge pieced together various outfits from our "Day of Shopping". She had decided to use her gift cards and shopping opportunity yesterday.

"How did I get myself into this?" I muttered for a third time that day. It was Friday and Dylan was collecting on his date.

I examined the note in my hand again to make sure I had read it right. Dylan had left it next to my alarm clock while I was taking a nap earlier.

_Dear Max, _

_I'm out running errands for tonight, but I'll be back at 6 to pick you up. Bring an appetite for dinner and don't worry, I told Nudge no dress. You can thank me later. I can't wait to see you. _

_Love, _

_Dylan_

The whole note unnerved me. Running errands? It was a date, what possible errands could he need to run? Dinner…well, that sounded okay actually_. _No dress…that was a plus, but he couldn't wait to see me and he signed the note with love. That was no good. I was in no way, shape or form ready for this.

"Okay, so I want you to put on this tank top and these jeans. Oh, and these slip on shoes. They're super cute and pretty comfy. You totally lucked out about the dress thing, but Dylan said maybe later, which is good because I picked out a really cute one for you and I have the perfect shoes too! Oh here, don't forget the necklace!" Nudge reminded me putting the birthday gift from Dylan around my neck. And he was already planning another date…we'll see about that. Not gonna happen, I resolved mentally.

I filed down the hall realizing Dylan would be here any minute if he wasn't already. Sure enough, there he was standing in the kitchen. I tried to play it cool, but I can't lie. I was checking him out and taking in his appearance. He looked gorgeous.

His blonde hair was still messy and falling in his face. His collared shirt matched his sparkling blue eyes and showed off his muscles. Even though I'd lived with him for a year now, I'd never seen him smile that big before, not ever. It was hard not to stare.

"One for the bird kid photo album!" Iggy called, but it was too late. I'd already seen the flash go off and heard the click, and despite Iggy's blindness I knew the picture would come out perfectly.

"You ready to get going?" Dylan asked with a smile. I shrugged, as ready as I would ever be. We said bye to the Flock and flew out the back door.

"What are we doing here?" I wondered out loud. I hadn't been on many dates but this one was the weirdest one so far.

We were standing outside of the hardware store when I felt Dylan grab my hand. I

"You wanted me to paint the walls in my room, so here we are." He explained leading me in.

"Um, in case you've had a temporary case of amnesia, I lost the bet, remember?" I reminded him, irritation in my voice. I hated losing.

"Oh, I remember beating you…" he smiled, "but I think it's time for a fresh start."

I thought it over for a second and realized what he was talking about even if he wouldn't say it out loud. I'm sure Dylan didn't like being reminded of Fang's presence even by something as small as the black walls of his room all the time.

Before I realized it Dylan and I were in the paint section looking at paint samples.

"Hot cocoa." He murmured, pulling out a dark brown square.

"Needs marshmallows." I retorted with a gross face.

"California oak…" He offered, pulling out a greyish green square and passing it my way.

"It looks more like pine sap…" I rejected another one.

I pulled out a dark bluish gray. "Stormy night?" I asked passing him the square.

"Kind of drab." He commented. We kept bouncing paint colors off of each other, holding onto a couple that were maybes.

"I like this one. It's 'Cobalt'." Dylan commented .

"That sounds…manly." I peeked over his shoulder to see a bright, vivid blue.

"I approve. Let's go…wait, how are we getting this back to the house?" I wondered out loud.

"Under control. Jeb is picking it up in an hour and taking it to the house. He'll also be checking to make sure that the house is still in one piece, dinner has been fixed and that everyone has taken a shower and is getting ready for bed."

Huh. Dylan had everything under control. It actually wasn't surprising though. This is what he'd done since Fang left. He made sure nothing blew up, dinner was fixed, and kept the kids in order when I couldn't do it. I'd gone through my biggest display of weakness, which you know how much I love, and Dylan not only saw it all, he pulled my weight. It was embarrassing to look that weak, but because he'd helped so much I trusted him. I mean, as much as I trusted anyone.


	11. We need to talk

**I do not own Maximum Ride. Dang.**

"So, what kind of errands were you running today?" I asked skeptically as we flew through the air. We'd left the hardware store and were on our way to dinner, but Dylan wouldn't tell me where.

"You'll see." He smiled. I rolled my eyes and kept flying but was interrupted by Dylan's voice.

"You do look beautiful, Max. But you always do." He beamed again.

"Thanks." I answered nervously. Nope, not ready for this at all.

I heard the crashing sound of water before it came into view.

"Here we are!" He answered proudly.

I saw a huge waterfall with sharp rocks jutting out around it.

"Wow, this is really pretty." I murmured quietly.

"Wait until you see the inside."

Dylan grabbed my hand and flew me near the waterfall. I thought he was going to pull us through it when I saw him swoop around it gracefully. He hadn't been flying as long as the rest of us had, but he had caught up quickly. We flew behind the waterfall into a natural cave. I saw candles lit all around since it had gotten dark and there was no other source of light. I understood what he meant by running errands now. He'd obviously put in a lot of time and effort to set this up.

"No crowds, no lines, no waiting…and best of all, Iggy made it." Dylan explained.

I sat on a blanket that had been spread on the ground. Dylan sat next to me and pulled a glass pan out of an insulated casing that I recognized.

"How did you manage to talk him into that?" I wondered out loud.

"Nope. Not telling you that secret." He grinned. That probably meant that Iggy and Gazzy were making a huge bomb in the backyard as we spoke.

"I have to admit, this is pretty creative." I said in between bites. I wondered how he found this place.

"You like it?" He asked, sounding kind of surprised.

I thought about it and nodded. "It's nice…and relaxing. Not having to worry about dressing up or crowded restaurants or anything. It's…comfortable."

We talked while we ate. We talked about the Flock, my mom and Ella, random stuff on tv…Dylan and I actually had a lot in common. I spent more time that night laughing than I had in the past year.

I thought about other "dates" that I had been on. I'd thought about when Fang and I had gone out in Hawaii. I was a nervous wreck, worrying about my manners and what I was wearing, which I never, ever do. This was a lot more my style.

I thought about when I'd gone out with Sam too when I was in Virginia. We'd held hands and eaten ice cream until his sister dropped me off at the end of the night. That was when Sam kissed me. I thought about that and suddenly felt a little more nervous.

"Max, we have to talk."

Uh oh. Déjà vu struck again and I remembered a time when Fang had said the same thing. I accused him of watching Oprah. This probably meant he was going to talk about his feelings.

"Max, I think I've made it pretty obvious. I like you and I really want to spend time with you. I know you've been through a lot but I'm asking you to just give me a fair shot, please. I'm not talking marriage or anything, just hanging out and doing things like we are tonight. " He requested seriously.

I thought it over for a second and prepped my wings for flight, just like I'd done a million times with Fang. I hated talking about my feelings and I wasn't ready for this.

"Wait." Dylan ordered, his hand wrapping around my wrist.

I turned on him knowing that my eyes had to be blazing with fury and preparing for a fight, but somehow Dylan knew what to say.

"Max, you can run all you want. I won't stop you. But it's different this time. You can run, because every time you come back I will still be right there with you and I will still feel the same way. I'm not leaving and I'm not giving up. There is nothing you can say or do that would ever make me leave."

I was shocked and absolutely speechless. Fang had always been quiet, so anytime he talked about his feelings it took me by surprise. That was one of the problems with that stupid letter he left. If he had told me half the things in that letter instead of writing it and leaving…well, let's just say we wouldn't be in this situation right now. But no, he was still Mr. Mute and I was left in the dark until it was too late and he was gone.

This was the complete and total opposite. I completely froze, unable to move. It was like Dylan had just opened his heart and poured everything inside of it out. The least I could do is stay and hear him out, right? I calmed myself, fighting the urge to run and sat down again. The relief and surprise on Dylan's face was…really comforting actually.

"Dyl..." I began not really knowing what to say that wouldn't break his heart.

"Max, we can take it as slow as you want. Whatever you want, I'll work with it. Will you just give me a chance?" He all but begged.

I was mesmerized by him again. His eyes were bright and shimmering. I couldn't look away. It was like I was one of those stupid computerized missile systems and I was locked on my target. Dylan could tell too, making him smile, not helping me break free from him.

I considered what that would mean. I wouldn't be moving on. I would be heading in another direction. I'd still wait for Fang. I'd go back to the hawk's cave in another eighteen years, six months, and ten days. But I had to accept a couple of facts. One of us might die before then, which may sound morbid, but is a reality for people with lives like ours. If that happened did I really want to spend my entire life alone? I knew the answer to that. No. On top of that I had to accept that Fang might feel the same way. He may not completely move on but he might find someone, at least temporarily.

And Dylan was right. It wasn't like we were talking marriage, or kids or something. Just a few dates, at my own pace. I could manage that, right? That's what normal teenage girls without wings did, right?

Finally, I nodded. I was going to give it a shot and Dylan couldn't look happier.


	12. Saying goodnight

**Anybody else watching World Cup? Love it! I don't own it or Maximum Ride.**

We made it back to the house and came in through the back door. I opened Nudge's door slightly and could tell she had been asleep for a while. She was hanging off the bed dangerously, so I scooted her back in and covered her in her pink and purple blanket.

"Thanks Max." She mumbled in her sleep.

"Anytime, sweetie."

"Did you have fun?' She asked in a daze.

"Yeah, I did. Don't worry about me though. You get some rest." I said without getting any response. She was already back out.

I opened Iggy and Gazzy's door to see them both in bed. Gazzy was snoring, but Iggy was just lying in bed with his eyes closed. He could be asleep or just thinking. It was hard to tell with him.

"Everything under control?" Dylan asked quietly. I nodded thankfully and started heading to my room.

"Hey Max…you want to watch a movie?" He asked.

"Sure." I nodded, knowing I wouldn't be going to sleep anytime soon anyway.

"Really? You've never tried this?" I asked in disbelief. Dylan and I were relaxing in his room, watching a movie. Don't ask me which one, because we weren't really paying attention. We had spent most of the time talking and laughing.

"I've never heard of this. It sounds pretty gross though." He laughed. I was holding a bag of popcorn while he held a bowl of melting vanilla ice cream.

"Just give it a try."

"Fine." He finally agreed reluctantly. I took a piece of popcorn and dunked it in the ice cream, popping it Dylan's mouth. His eyes were closed and he looked like he was ready to cringe. He started chewing and I saw his expression lighten.

"See! It's good isn't it?" I loved being right. The sweet and salty flavor combination won him over.

"I'll admit, it's better than I thought it would be." He laughed lightly, doing it again with another piece of popcorn. I jumped a little when I heard two loud taps on the wall. Iggy. He was either saying goodnight or telling us to be quiet.

"I guess I should go ahead and hit the sack." I said, stifling a yawn.

"Do you have to?" Dylan pouted. I laughed in response. He was actually pretty cute when he pouted.

"Dylan, we have to sleep some time. I'll see you in the morning."

To my surprise Dylan took my bowl and set it on his night stand and took my hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked stupidly.

"Walking you to your door. That is how you end a date, right? " He asked, embarrassed.

"I guess." I laughed, not sure that rule still applied when you lived in the same house. I stopped at my bedroom door nervously and looked down at my hand, which Dylan was holding.

"Thanks for tonight, Max. I had a really good time. Can we do it again soon?" He asked hopefully.

"I'll let you know." I agreed, feeling Dylan's arms wrapping around my waist to hug me. He pulled me to him, and leaned down to kiss my cheek, but stopped, gauging my reaction. I took a deep breath and nodded, giving him permission. His nose brushed mine, and his lips softly grazed mine, giving me a second to back away if I wanted, but I didn't. Dylan pushed himself closer to me and I felt his mouth meet mine.

Wow, kissing. There was time I thought I would never do this again. I hadn't done this in a year or so, which for a teenage girl with raging hormones, feels like a lifetime. My brain just shut off and let my body have its way. Before I knew it I had my fingers wrapped in Dylan's hair and he was holding me dangerously close. I could feel every single one of the muscles that I had been staring at earlier that night. Despite being the one to initiate it, I felt Dylan back away, both of us breathless.

His hand brushed my cheek and he nuzzled into my hair. "Goodnight, Max. I'll see you in the morning."


	13. I can kick his ass

**This is the last chapter in Max's POV for a while, just an FYI. Fang's POV is coming up next! I'm really excited about it, so let me know what you guys think! I still don't own any of this stuff!**

"Good morning, sunshine." Iggy said sarcastically, making his way to get a cup of coffee before he started breakfast. As usual, I was the first one awake but I had my head resting on the dining room table in between sips of my coffee.

"Hey." I muttered, seeing memories from last night play like a highlight reel. What had I done? What was I doing?

"Max, can I talk to you for a second?" Iggy asked.

"What's up?" I mumbled.

"I know that I was…less than supportive of you and Fang, but I learned my lesson. I'm sorry I was such an ass about it. Whatever happened with you and Dylan last night…I just wanted to tell you that if you're happy, I'm happy." Iggy said seriously, for once.

Huh. It wasn't an apology, but it was good enough for me. That was really mature, especially by Iggy's standards. He must have given it a lot of thought.

"Thanks, Ig." I accepted the apology and took another sip of coffee, contemplating my next step. I'd have to call it off with Dylan. I'd explain that it was a mistake and that we should just focus on the Flock.

"So, did you have a good time?" He asked, pouring himself a cup without spilling a single drop. He started pulling out pans from underneath the cabinets to begin making breakfast.

"I don't really want to talk about it. Thanks though." I answered with a yawn.

"Did he hurt you? Because like I said, if you're happy I'm happy, but if you're not I can totally kick his ass." He threatened.

I laughed a little at his protectiveness. "He didn't hurt me, Ig. I'm fine. I just don't want to talk about it." I answered shutting down.

"Suit yourself. But I could hear you guys a little, and that was the happiest you've sounded in a really long time, Max."

The last time I was this…giddy, excited, nervous, whatever I was, it was because of Fang. Look at how that ended.

"Good morning." Dylan yawned, padding into the kitchen.

"Hey." Iggy greeted, cracking some eggs. Dylan poured himself a cup of coffee too and sat by me. He grabbed my hand and held it. Since Iggy couldn't see it, I let him.

I finished my coffee quickly and headed to my room to get ready for the day, throwing on jeans and a t-shirt, when I heard a knock on my door.

"Yeah?" I called and heard the door open.

Dylan. Of course.

"Are you alright?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied easily.

"You are fine. But I don't believe that you're alright." He flirted with a smile.

Stand your ground, Maximum, I warned myself.

"Max, I told you. You can talk to me about anything. What's on your mind?" Dylan asked, his arms circling my waist.

"This. I mean, I'm okay with this but…" I gestured to what we were doing.

"You don't want the others to know." He finished.

I nodded guiltily. To my surprise, he actually smiled. He must have seen the dumb struck look and my face and began to explain.

"I told you, Max. We'll take this as slow as you want. But by not wanting to tell the others, you're admitting that there's something between us." He smiled, kissing my neck lightly. I completely zoned out, unable to speak. I hadn't felt like this in so long but as strange as it was, it felt right. Not sweet or perfect or loving, but very, very hot. Way hotter than it had ever gotten with Fang, considering how young we were at the time. I felt him laying kisses along my neck before he scooped me up and set me on the bed. He kissed his way back up until his nose touched mine and he held my face in his hand.

I'll admit, I'm pretty well known for my snap decisions, but this one was such a snap decision, even I didn't see it coming until it was too late. I kissed him. And I'm not talking a little peck on the lips. Our mouths parted and we completely melted into each other. I hadn't realized how out of hand everything had gotten until we heard a knock at the door. We broke apart, both of us panting and breathless.

"Max? Are you in there?" I heard Nudge ask.

I looked to Dylan like a dear in headlights to find him staring at me. And he looked absolutely lustful. And delicious. Snap out of it, Max!

Dylan and I distanced ourselves, literally as much as we physically could. We each stood on opposite walls of my room, putting as much space as possible between us.

"Come on in!" I called.

I knew I had to be flushed and disheveled, but that was too late to worry about now. The door opened and Nudge peeked her head in.

"Hey, I wanted to see…oh, hey Dylan." She laughed nervously. Nudge went silent. Mark the record books.

She wanted to see how things went last night.

"Hey Nudge. What's up?" He asked calmly and with a smile. He was already his normal self again. I just felt like banging my head against a wall and yelling at myself.

"I wanted to see what you guys were up to. I think we might go for a fly." Nudge lied quickly. Almost no one else in the world would know that she was lying, it was so natural to us, but since I was the one who raised her I could see it a mile away.

"Cool. Meet up in ten?" I asked, being all leaderish.

"Sounds good. I'll let Iggy and Gazzy know." She answered, skittering out nervously.

Dylan and I looked at each other, almost daring the other to say something first.

"We're going too fast. I'm really sorry." Dylan rambled quickly. I ignored his apology and trailed my finger down the outer feathers of his wings.

"Ready to go?" I asked, feeling him shiver. He simply nodded.

I let out a huge breath of relief knowing that we had just missed a really close call.


	14. His side of the story

**I'm posting this because braces and 6 am runs suck. The end. Oh, and I don't own Max. Or Fang. Or Iggy. Or Dylan. Or Gazzy. Or Nudge. Or Angel. Done? Yep, think so.**

***Fang's POV***

I made my way down the streets of New York City until I saw the signs that I had been looking for. This was it. It looked like an ordinary street corner, but I knew what lied underneath.

I'd been here before. It's been a while but I could never forget this place. The Institute of Better Living lied under this very sidewalk and I needed to get down there.

I lifted up the nearest manhole, drawing back from the stench, but I knew that I'd have to go down there.

I'm not squeamish, but I knew I'd need a shower tonight. I'd figure out how to get one later.

I'd left a little less than a year ago. Ten or eleven months ago? Something like that. I can't even remember anymore. Pathetic, isn't it? So far I'd made it on my own, but it hadn't always been pretty.

I'd been all over, looking for anything I could find about the Flock or our families. I'd been out to California to search the School there, and some other Itex facilities but so far had come out with nothing but a few new scars.

The good thing about bird kid GPS is that once you've been somewhere, you can almost always find your way back. I made it to the door that Iggy had lock picked so long ago. It felt like a dream, an entirely different world from the one I lived in now. I smiled a little to myself remembering them all. I wish I could have brought someone with me. Anyone. Well, almost anyone. Dylan could go to Hell. Anyone else would have been welcome. Max. Well, that would have been a dream come true. My dream come true. Just me and her…that would have made all those years of cages, running, pain and misery all worth it if I could have had her by my side. But I couldn't. The risk was too much. She was the reason I left. And unfortunately I was too selfless to bring any of the Flock with me. I knew Max would need them more.

I pushed the door open, wiping the smile from my face and getting my head back in the game.

There could be anything behind this door. It could be fully manned and armed. It could be filled with cages again. I thought of experiments being trapped and I saw Max's angry face in my mind, being reminded of what happened the last time we were here.

Oh well. Here goes nothing.

I pushed the door open and walked in only to be shoved into the nearest wall by my windpipe.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" I heard a cold, high pitched voice ask.

Her arm was pressing against my throat, cutting off my oxygen supply.

"Easier to answer when I can breathe." I managed to squeak, not sounding at all like myself.

She pulled back, not pressing as hard, but keeping her arm where she could crush my throat if she needed to.

"Talk." She ordered.

I thought about what to say quickly when something clicked.

All the years we spent with Jeb he'd taught us something, one really important rule. Jeb had taught us to never go back to the same place twice. Clean up your messes and when you leave, and don't ever go back.

He had to learn that from somewhere and I'm guessing that was Itex. So how likely was it that this girl was from Itex? Only one way to find out.

"It might be easier if I show you." I answered quietly, very much my style, as few words as possible.

I whipped my wings out quickly, stretching them out some. I felt the girl's position on my neck lighten and a look of shock spread across her face.

"I thought I…" She didn't finish her sentence.

Instead she opened her own chocolate colored wings, ruffling her feathers lightly.

Huh. How about that?

"What's your name?" I asked quietly.

"Natalie. Nat. Whichever you prefer." She answered, leaning against the wall.

She was short and petite by bird kid standards.

She had to be at least half a foot shorter than Max, and thinner with more noticeable muscles and fewer curves. She looked like one of the runway models that Nudge always talked about and studied in magazines.

"I'm Fang."

"Okay."

She wasn't much of a talker, even by my standards.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Trying to find something about my past, I guess." She answered with hesitation.

"Me too. Trying to find anything I can about me, or my family." I answered back.

"Where are they?"

"They're in Colorado. I had to leave them for a while. We have a mission, and I'm helping more by not being there." I replied bitterly, knowing how weird that answer sounded. "How about you? Do you have anyone?" I asked.

"Not anymore." She answered hardly, her voice full of hurt.

"Have you found anything so far?" I asked, looking at the disheveled office area, remembering where Nudge had found out about her power and picturing where the computer normally would have been.

"Nothing yet. I just got here a few minutes before you did. I heard your footsteps and the rest is history." She answered.

"If you want to we can look together…try to help each other out." I offered.

Max would kill me if she knew how trusting I was being with this girl. She would strangle me, kick my ass, and then beat me senseless. But Max wasn't here and I was tired of being alone, even if I don't talk a lot.

"Okay, what are you looking for?' She asked as she started shuffling files strewn along the floor.

"Anything with the name Monique, or Griffiths. Or anything with the name Martinez or…Ride." I answered with a silent struggle. "You?"

"My name. Natalie. I don't know my last name. Or Jamie. Let me know if you see anything about Jamie." She ordered, but her voice sounded a little sad. Huh. I wonder who Jamie is. Hopefully I'd find out.


	15. Jamie All Over

**Okay, so everyone wants to know who Jamie is. No, you didn't miss anything. I didn't explain who he is yet. Lo and behold, this chapter. I still don't own Fang or Max. **

We searched through files and files almost never finding anything that deserved a second glance, until I found Jamie's file.

"You said Jamie, right?" I asked, thumbing through the water logged pages.

"What did you find?" She asked running over quickly.

I saw a picture inside of a guy who looked a little older than me. He had brown hair and green eyes. Nat snatched the file out of my hands, taking in every bit of information the file had to offer.

"It's like they wanted me to find it. Like they wanted me to know, or something." She whispered.

I kept digging through files looking for something on the Flock or me while Nat studied Jamie's file.

"You aren't going to find anything here." She said coldly.

"I just found that. Maybe there's more." I said, still digging.

"You aren't going to find anything. Not if you or your family are still alive. I'm pretty sure the only reason Jamie's file is here is because he's dead." She told me angrily.

"Fine. I guess I'll be going then." I narrowed my eyes and headed for the door.

"Wait! Where are you going?" She asked quickly. I shrugged since I didn't have a real answer.

"I've got an apartment about 15 minutes from here. I have some extra space. If you don't have anywhere else to go you're welcome to crash for a couple nights. Since you helped me out and all." She offered, less icy than she had been a little while ago.

I thought it over for a second.

"Come on. I know you're dying for a shower after crawling through the sewers." She added. That was true enough.

"Okay. Thanks."

"Sure. Sorry you didn't find anything about your family, but if I were you I'd be glad we didn't." She said starting to make her way through the tunnels. Unfortunately I had to agree with her.

We flew up to an abandoned building, landing on the seventh floor. We came in through a window. I noticed that while the building looked run down from the outside the inside was almost like new.

"The building's set to be demolished in a week or two. But I'll be long gone before that happens." Nat explained shuffling through a couple of drawers and pulling out clothes.

She shoved me a pair of basketball shorts, a shirt and a pair of boxers. Not black, but close enough to my size that they would work fine.

"They're clean. The washing machine works. You can throw your stuff in after the shower if you want. The spare bedroom is here. It has its own bathroom for you to use too." She showed me around. Huh. I had my own room for now, and my own shower. I could get used to that.

"I'll be in my room. After the shower we can go scrounge up some food." She said heading in the other direction.

We met in the living room after our showers. I threw the few clothes that I owned into the washer and started it. From there we got some fast food and brought it back to the apartment.

"Do you live here by yourself?" I asked, scarfing down another cheeseburger.

She nodded.

"Those clothes have never been worn. They were supposed to be for Jamie if he ever found his way here, but that won't happen now."

She reminded me of Max. She was so matter-of-fact, like she knew she could feel sorry for herself, but wouldn't let it happen.

"Was he your boyfriend?" I asked. She just shrugged.

"I guess that's the best way to put it. We were in the program together, but we got close. Really close, I guess. I was training to be an assassin. Jamie was older than me. He finished before I did and started missions. Then one day, he didn't come back. I knew I had to go find him. In training one day Jack, my instructor, was teaching me how to break someone's neck. What a waste of time. I did that when I was thirteen. He had me practicing on some dummies and then I moved onto him. I busted out of Itex and set out to find Jamie. I've been looking all over and you see where I ended up. Still no Jamie though. Nothing except for this file." She slammed the thin manila folder on the floor in frustration.

"Why do you think he's dead?" I asked, trying to be optimistic.

"Jack's last note. He noticed that Jamie and I were close and noted it in the file. He made note that Jamie left for the mission but that was the last one he ever recorded. That was almost four months ago. These files are supposed to be updated every week, regardless of progress. He'd dead." She said absolutely.

I stayed quiet for a second, giving her a moment to grieve, but she wasn't taking one.

"How about you? Where are you headed next? Are you going back to your family?" She asked, chowing down.

"I can't go back. Not for another 18 years. Give or take."

She seemed confused by my answer, but moved on.

"You said you guys had a mission. What is it?"

"We're saving the world. I don't know how, or what from but that was Max's stupid destiny. She has to save the world and I'm just trying to speed up the process…" I mumbled angrily.

"Who's Max? And why are you trying to save the world if it's HER destiny?" Nat asked with confusion.

"Max is…was…well, she's just Max. She was the leader of our family, our Flock. She another Avian-Human hybrid like us, except she was created to save the world. I can't see her again until the world is saved and I know she's safe." I explained as quickly as I could.

"So, what are you trying to do exactly?" Nat asked again, not seeming any less confused.

"I'm trying to increase our chances of survival, but most importantly I'm trying to keep her safe. If I'm where she is, she's in danger." I explained, losing patience.

"Am I in danger with you being here?" Nat asked skeptically. I thought it over for a second.

"No more than if I wasn't. Like I said, it's a long story." I answered, my tone clear that I wasn't going to talk about it anymore.

We ate in silence for a few minutes before Nat spoke up.

"Okay, so since Jamie's dead I'm kind of short on a reason for living. Since you can't be with your family you're kind of short on help surviving. Want to team up?" She offered.

I thought it over. I had sent out an all call to people with powers. I still needed to try and find Itex, or Mr. Chu, or Dr. Hagen-Dazs. I should be fighting something, right?

Nat was a trained killer. Whatever I needed to tackle she could help me do it. Plus, as I saw earlier she was obviously good at ordering people around and I needed a second in command.

"You sure?" I asked.

"What have I got to lose?" She asked, shrugging.

"Your life." I answered, my voice dead serious.

"Not worth that much anyway. I'm in."


	16. Should I stay or should I go?

**Happy Friday! Birthday party tomorrow! Yay! Anyway, I don't own Max or Fang or any of that nifty stuff that would make me a millionaire. Lame, huh?**

The door busted open and I saw Nat in my doorway. I was getting ready to fight but she interrupted me.

"I think it's time for us to go." She said in a bored tone.

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"The guys at the door with dynamite." She answered easily.

Good enough for me. I'd enjoyed a weeklong stay at what may as well have been the bird-kid equivalent to the Ritz-Carlton but now it was time to go.

Other than the fact that we were both as stubborn as starving ant eaters Nat and I got along pretty well. Everything was all packed up and we put on our packs and jumped out of the window as soon as the front door to our apartment busted open.

I saw blond guy in a pair of overalls holding enough C4 that it would have made Iggy shed tears of joy.

"Where to now?" Nat asked.

"I have an idea about that." I answered. We landed near a coffee shop and I hacked into the wi-fi, wondering if the message was still there.

I read it over again, knowing that I was taking a huge risk. This could be the trap of all traps, but if not, it could be the mother lode.

_Hey Fang, _

_You don't know me but I've followed your blog from day one. I know you think you're alone and that there aren't any bird kids beside you and the Flock, but I've got news for you. You're wrong. How do I know? Because I am one. I ran away because of it and I know there are others like us. I can help you find them, but I can't tell you how. I'd have to explain in person. I'm in San Antonio right now, but I'll fly to where you are. Just say the word. I know you think this is too easy, or too good to be true. You'll probably assume that this is a trap. I would too, but I can prove to you that it's not if you give me the chance. Let me know. _

_AJ_

"This is your plan?" Nat asked in disbelief.

"Do you have a better one?" I countered.

"Yes! How about NOT walking into a blatant trap and getting ourselves killed?" She rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. I hadn't known Nat long but I knew she did that when she was angry. We didn't always agree eye to eye and when we argued it could get pretty heated. It was kind of like when Max and I argued.

"Look, if you have a better idea, I'm all for it. But we need help if we're going to get anything done." I answered.

"And what exactly are we supposed to be getting done, Fang? What are we after? What's our plan? Because right now, it sounds like the plan is to survive and that's a Hell of a lot easier if we don't go out recruiting for others! It's hard enough to take care of us!" She argued.

She was right, of course. That's why Max was leader. I was happy to just find a desert island and escape. Max was the real fighter, always looking out for others. A part of me wanted to give in, to just find abandoned homes one after the other until it wasn't safe anymore and we had to leave.

But that wasn't why I left Max. And the sooner I did find what we needed to fight and get rid of it, the sooner I could go back home.

"Look, thanks for putting me up for a while, but I'm going to try to find others. If you don't want to come with me, I understand. It's your decision. But I'm going to reply to the message and find out what this is about." I answered, sitting on the ground and beginning to type.

Nat paced impatiently back and forth in the alleyway with me. I wanted to tell her to stop and that it was annoying me, but I knew she was trying to make a decision. Should she stay or should she go? If I snapped at her, I would definitely make her decision easier.

"Ugh!" She screamed in frustration, hitting the brick wall of the coffee shop. I saw a small shard of brick go flying. She may be little, but damn, she was strong.

I hit send and looked at her for an answer.

"You are soooo lucky you're cute." She muttered through gritted teeth.

I busted out laughing for literally the first time in months. I couldn't help it.

"Thanks. I needed that." I smiled. Nat's face got red and I could tell that she was embarrassed or angry, but she really did make me feel better.

"Where are we meeting?" She asked getting down to business.

"Indianapolis. It's pretty much a midpoint. We'll stay here tonight and head out in the morning." I answered.

"Okay, and where exactly are we going to stay tonight, genius?" She asked sharply.

"We'll find some place. We need to eat first." I ordered.

Nat went inside and got us coffee and some pastries with the little money we had left. I'd have to figure out a solution to that problem. For once in my life I wished that I was the one with a voice in their head, hoping to find a magic ATM card with my name on it. I honestly don't know how Max did any of this.

I used the wi-fi and checked my e-mail. No new messages, but I decided to read some old ones from Max. She'd sent them for the first couple of months after I left. Some of them were angry and bitter. A lot of them were sad. But I knew she was thinking about me, remembering my promise from the letter. 20 years. Only 18 or so left .

_Fang, _

_Please come back. I can't do this alone. I need you. Please just let me know that you're okay._

_Max_

That one was the worst. It made me want to fly back every single time I read it, but I wouldn't. It might have hurt at first, but I knew Max would be okay now. She was probably with Dylan now…or maybe some other guy. If so I hoped he was good to her. Either way I was sure Max was a better leader now because I left. I opened another knowing I wouldn't be able to do this again anytime soon.

_Fang, _

_I don't know what to do anymore. You said you left because you were a distraction and that we were too focused on each other. You're still the only thing I focus on. At least before you left I ate and slept, and even laughed sometimes. Not anymore. If you left to try and motivate me to save the world…Boy, you failed big time on that one. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. The first butt that I'm going to kick is yours in twenty years. I miss you. _

_Max_

Typical Max. Tell her to do something she'll do exactly the opposite.

"That's a…colorful subject for an e-mail." Nat said, sitting beside me and handing me my coffee.

I shrugged knowing Nat wouldn't understand and not really feeling like explaining.

"Let's eat and then find some place to hold up for the night." I replied, packing up the laptop.


	17. Why make sacrifices?

**I do not own Maximum Ride. I do own an extra five pounds and a world of hurt tomorrow for eating too much birthday cake yesterday. **

So you're probably wondering where we ended up for the night. Remember what I told you about bird kid GPS? How the first time you got there it was easy to find you way back?

Well, we ended up back at the ocean. We were on the beach where Max had kissed me for the very first time.

"What are we doing here?" Nat asked.

I shrugged. "Do you have any better ideas?"

Nope.

"We would camp out here." I suggested.

"I can see a couple beach houses over those dunes. Want to try our luck?" Nat asked.

I nodded. We would scout the area and see if any were unoccupied. If they were we could have food and an actual place to sleep tonight.

We walked up and down the beach, peering into the houses. I felt a little guilty but you've got to do what you've got to do. We checked to see if any blinds were shut or cars not in the driveways.

"Bingo." Nat said, walking up to a grey house with white shutters.

It didn't look like anyone had been there for weeks and whoever had been there had left in a hurry. There was a barbecue pit with charred up wood still in it. All the lights were off and the blinds were open, showing a messy, but abandoned living room.

Nat tried to open the door but it was locked. I could tell she was about to break the door but I stopped her.

"Wait." I ordered, bending down to examine the potted plant next to my feet. I lifted it off the ground to find a spare key. Predictable.

We opened it up and stepped inside to find a spacious living room with food wrappers and beer bottles strewn everywhere.

We went from room to room checking for others, but the house was empty. We checked the dresser drawers for clothes too, but didn't find anything there either.

"Check this out." Nat smirked.

It was family portrait of a mom, dad, and son. Next to that was the son's high school graduation picture, and then another of him standing in front of his frat house.

"His mom and dad are going to kill him when they find this." Nat laughed. I smirked and threw my pack down on the couch.

I went to the fridge looking for food. Some stuff was fresh food that had molded but some of the stuff was still good. I raided the pantry to find plenty of canned food.

Nat followed and grabbed 3 cans of soup and started opening the cans. I opened the freezer and found a couple of frozen pizzas too.

"Jackpot!" Nat laughed. I started opening the boxes to throw one in the oven.

"I wonder why he left so fast." I muttered, looking around.

"Oh, that's gross." I heard Nat say from the next room. I walked into see her examining the sheets in one of the bedrooms. They looked like they hadn't been washed in years.

"I guess that's his room." I laughed lightly.

"I'm not sleeping in there." Nat called, going to check on her soup.

I walked into the other bedroom which was obviously the parent's. The bed was perfectly made with expensive bedding.

"Ah, much better." Nat called flinging herself on the bed. She jumped up and down on it a little and flopped back down.

"Do all assassins act like 5 year olds?" I asked, referring to her immaturity.

"Relax. Live a little. I'll make it up before we leave. We could even do a good deed and wash the other ones." She said before making a disgusted face. "I'll start looking for rubber gloves."

Five hours, three frozen pizzas, three cans of soup and two HBO movies later we decided to call it a night. We locked every door and window in the house and I was thankful that we didn't have to keep watch. This was better than a tree or camping on the beach.

I kicked out the leg rest of the couch and tried to get comfortable while Nat went into the king size bed and crawled under the covers. Being leader made making sacrifices to keep your Flock happy. Max was a lot better at that than I was.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep when I felt the movement on the couch and saw Nat plop down next to me.

"Really?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

I just ignored her and closed my eyes again.

"I have an entire king size bed in there with 800 thread count sheets and you're going to be all chivalrous and sleep on this stupid couch?" She asked.

I did the usual thing that I do and still said nothing.

"Look, this can go one of two ways. Either you can give in and we can BOTH sleep in the nice comfy bed and wake up tomorrow nice and refreshed before we pick up our third wheel tomorrow." She offered.

"I don't know what the other way is but I like it better." I said, turning over trying to get some sleep.

"The other way is that we both sleep on this cramped uncomfortable, squeaky vinyl couch and wake up in pissy moods tomorrow, further emphasizing the obvious sexual tension between us." She offered casually.

"There is no sexual tension." I yawned.

"Fine. Then you should have no problem sleeping in the bed." She dared.

I got up rolling my eyes and threw myself on the bed too tired to argue.

"Just go to sleep." I ordered her.

"No problem. Just let me know when you're ready to do something about that sexual tension."


	18. 35 year old virgin?

**I do not own Maximum Ride, though at the moment some writer's block is kicking my ass. Oh, and just to explain...Nat isn't really supposed to be a slut, she's just a lot more casual when it comes to the whole sex topic because she never had any younger kids around her. Imagine how perverted Iggy would have been if Angel hadn't been around and Max had let him say whatever her wanted...yeah. **

"Good morning."

I stretched and looked over to see Max next to me.

"Hey."

It was another stupid dream. It had to be. I'd had them every night since I left.

"What's wrong?" She pouted, inching closer to me.

"Nothing." I lied. So what if it's a dream? It's my dream and I want to enjoy it.

"I know better than that. Tell me what's wrong." She started running her hands through my hair and cuddling into my chest.

Weird. Not very Max like. But awesome, nonetheless.

I sighed.

"I know I'm dreaming, but I don't really care."

I heard her laugh for the first time in almost a year, and the familiar sound made me wonder if I really was dreaming.

It sounded like her. It looked like her. And she was touching me! This had to be real, right?

"You're serious? You really think you're dreaming?" She asked in amazement.

"Wouldn't be the first time." I mumbled, getting the feeling that I was about to wake up.

"Fang, it's just me. It's not like it's some swimsuit model or something. Why would you be dreaming about me?" She laughed lightly.

Instead of saying anything I just started kissing her…like really kissing her, not like anything we'd ever done before. I'd missed her so much, even if I never said it out loud.

I pulled her on top of me and held her. This was way too real to be a dream. I could feel her breath on my neck when she started kissing me there feel her feathers as I rubbed her back between her wings. This was so real. I had to be the luckiest guy on Earth.

"I love you." I whispered between kisses.

"That's sweet, but you just met me."

Nat.

Shit.

I sat upright as fast as I could realizing what was happening. I felt my face warm a little when I realized I was only in my boxers. Don't ask me how I ended up that way.

Nat was only in her bra and underwear.

"Not a bad way to start the morning, right?" She asked yawning and stretching.

"Sorry." I muttered, getting up quickly and throwing on the rest of my clothes.

"Sorry? I started it. I mean do you know how long it's been? I mean, Jamie must have gone missing three, four months ago? I needed that." She smiled, stretching again.

"We've gotta go." I said, packing up quickly, unable to meet her eyes.

"Why are you so worked up? I mean, it's not like we actually had sex or something. Sure, we came close…"

"Let's go." I ordered coldly.

"Oh, sorry. That's probably the furthest you've gone, huh?" She asked casually.

I didn't answer.

"What? Were you planning on waiting for twenty years until you got back to Max?" She asked in disbelief.

Well, actually, yes. That had been the plan so far.

"I love Max." I said simply.

"Yes, but you can have sex with me. I need you to be a little more mature about this." She retorted.

"Mature? I'm only sixteen!" I yelled.

"And how old do you think I am?" She asked.

Good point. I didn't exactly know, did I?

"Look, I'm sixteen too, but we're not normal teenagers. We've seen more horrible things that most adults. I've done more horrible things that most adults. I've killed people and not thought twice about it because it's what I had to do! So what if I enjoy a few of the perks of adulthood sometimes?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Do you even have a soul?" I asked in shock.

"Aren't you being a little ridiculous? I told you I killed a guy when I was thirteen and you didn't even flinch. But then I tell you that I had sex when I was sixteen and all of a sudden I'm a bad person? You should think that one over, buddy." She said with some anger in her voice.

She had a point, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

"Look, don't feel bad for what happened. I loved Jamie and I don't regret what I did." For the first time since I met her she sounded sincerely saddened. "But I like you. And if you decide that twenty years is too long to wait for Max, I'm around." She offered.


	19. Meeting AJ

**I do not own Maximum Ride...**

"Are you sure this is the place?" Nat asked again.

I gave her an annoyed look that was an obvious yes. This is the right place.

We were at a park in Indianapolis waiting on this AJ guy but so far he hadn't shown up. I kept looking down from the top of the tallest tree in the place trying to spot who he might be.

"Who are you looking for?"

Nat and I looked at each other and then looked behind us.

He was a little shorter than me with messy black hair and a grin like a Cheshire cat. His wings were white, but a different shade than Angel's. He looked like he was a little younger than Nat and I.

"I'm AJ." He said. Thanks Captain Obvious. I thought you were some other bird kid coming to tell us that AJ wasn't going to be able to make it today because he had Bird Flu.

"Hey." I answered. Nat stayed silent.

"What's up Fang? Nice to finally meet you. Big fan of your blog. And you must be Max. I mean, I thought you would be taller, but hey you're still hot…" AJ rambled.

"I'm. NOT. Max." Nat growled, ready to fling herself at AJ and start beating the living crap out of him.

"Oh, for real? Sorry. Who are you then?" He was genuinely confused. I hadn't updated my blog since I left the Flock.

"This is Nat."

"Dude, you didn't. Please don't tell me you left Max. I mean, you talked about her so much I had a crush on her FOR you! I knew you were looking for bird kids but I didn't know you left the others." AJ rambled only to have Nat snap at him again.

"Is there a reason you're here? I mean, you're obviously not helpful…" She started.

"Nat, knock it off. So, what's your story AJ?" I asked

"Mom and Dad were poor. Itex offered them money. They took the money but kept me. As part of the agreement they had to take me to The School every six months to my monitor my 'progress'. I got sick of being a stupid guinea pig pin cushion and said screw it, I'm leaving. I ran away and haven't looked back since."

"You said you could help us find others, but you couldn't tell me how. Think you could explain that now?" I asked.

"Oh yeah. I need a computer though." He shrugged.

"I'm hungry. Can we do this over lunch?" Nat yawned.

I just rolled my eyes.

"Let's go."

Twenty minutes later we were downing cheeseburgers while AJ was typing at the computer that I had acquired by not so legal methods. All I can say is that the guys that stock the shelves at Best Buy should watch their trucks better.

"Okay, so you see this e-mail that you got a couple of months ago? The one from Luca Morris?" AJ asked, taking a bite.

"Yeah, a random fan girl in South Dakota saying she had wings. And how did you get into my e-mail?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"It's one of my powers. I'm really good with computers. I can hack into almost anything, really. I figured out your password without using powers though. You should be more creative." He added, taking another bite. 'Maximum' was only obvious to people who knew me.

"What about the e-mail?" I asked, trying to get him back on track.

"Oh yeah. It's not a random fan girl. She's telling the truth." He said in between bites.

I heard Nat scoff in disbelief.

"See, there are her wings." AJ pointed at the screen. A girl had her back turned, obviously changing shirts with a pair of white and brown spotted wings on her back.

"Pervert. You would be watching her change clothes." Nat said disgustedly. I wasn't sure if she was talking to me or AJ.

"I had to make sure she's legit." He shrugged.

"You know how to find her?" I asked.

"Yep. I have name, address, phone number, e-mail, bank account number…" He rattled off.

"You can hack into people's bank accounts?" Nat asked, her eyebrow arching.

"Eyeing a designer purse?" AJ smarted back.

"Idiot. In case you didn't notice we used the last of our cash on lunch AND we have nowhere to sleep tonight." Nat argued.

I had been wondering what we were going to do about those things, but apparently AJ had an answer.

"Watch me work." He smirked, typing away.

Twenty minutes later we had $800 in cash and three rooms at the Holiday Inn. I had a feeling that keeping this kid around might be helpful.


	20. Nursing wounds

**Hola! Writer's block and running at 6 am has been kicking my butt. I still don't own Max...**

***Max's POV***

"Are you freakin' kidding me?" I screamed, punching yet another Eraser in the face.

This was the second time this week they'd attacked us and the timing couldn't be worse. We had been flying to my Mom's in Arizona. She's asked us to go with her and Ella to a CSM conference in Phoenix. Of course after a couple of months with no attacks the minute we decided to leave for a mini vacation is when we get two attacks in a week.

"Great, now I'm going to get cramps because you guys didn't give me twenty minutes to digest my food!" I yelled kneeing another one in the ribs. I thought I was far enough away but his nails grazed my side a little and I felt blood seeping through my shirt a little.

"Max, are you okay?" Dylan called. I could tell he wanted to rush to my side, but he was busy enough trying to down three of his own.

"I'm fine, Dyl! Behind you!" I called.

Dylan reached behind him, grabbing an Erasers neck and flung him over his right shoulder into the other two he was fighting. They all went down like bowling pins. Only two left, one of Gazzy's and one of Iggy's.

"Ready?" I heard Gazzy whisper. I saw Iggy nod slightly.

"U and A!" I ordered to Dylan and Nudge. Sure enough, all of us took to the skies and I saw a small detonator fall to the asphalt followed by a black and orange cloud of fire engulfing the whole scene.

"Score!" I heard Gazzy shout, high fiving Iggy.

"I'd give it…a seven probably." Iggy smiled in appreciation.

"Good job guys, but we have to get going. I told Mom we'd be there by dinner and the suns already going down." I said.

"You're wounded. We need to take care of your injuries first." Dylan said.

"I'm fine, let's just go." But I could tell by the look on his face I wasn't getting off that easy. I sighed.

"Fine. You guys go ahead. Dylan and I will catch up." I ordered the others, knowing that it would take longer to get the others in the air after a break. They did as we were told while Dylan and I landed on a nearby rooftop to inspect my non-existent damage.

"Pull up your shirt." Dylan ordered, leaning in to look at my side. I did as told to find Dylan inspecting the wounds. I looked down to see that the marks went higher up than I thought. Oddly enough though I wasn't in pain, probably from all the adrenaline.

"We'll need to make some bandages until we get to Val's." Dylan said, beginning to pull a shirt out of his pack before I stopped him.

"Here. Use the part that's not bloody. Don't waste a perfectly good shirt." I said, pulling off my tank top and throwing it to Dylan. I saw his face go red as I searched my pack for another shirt.

He tore my tank top into strips and I pulled out another shirt.

"I'm going to tie it around. Let me know if it's too tight." He blushed. I nodded, just wanting to get it over with.

He finally tied the bandages around and I pulled the other shirt over my head.

"We've gotta go. The others are pretty far ahead. It'll be hard to catch up." I commented, spreading out my wings.

Dylan nodded pecking me on the lips. Then he knocked my knees out from under me.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" I shouted as he caught me.

"You're losing blood. Save your energy. We're only an hour or so away from your moms. I can carry you that far." He said, getting ready to run for takeoff.

"I can fly just fine! Put me down!"

"Max, if you keep squirming your bandages will come loose and we'll have to do them all over again. You're hurt, just let me help you out."

I started trying to jump out of his grasp, but he wasn't letting go.

"You really don't want me to hold you?" He whispered, sounding hurt.

"Oh fine." I sighed and pouted, crossing my arms until my ribs started hurting.

We caught up with the Flock, who started to say something about our position until I glared at them.

"I'm fine." I mumbled unhappily. The rest of the flock chuckled under their breath.

"Max!" I heard my mom yell as she was running out of the house to check on me.

"I'm fine." I repeated, as Dylan set me on my feet. That's when I noticed the big red pool on the side of his shirt.

"Oh geez, Dyl! Sorry!" I muttered quickly.

"I don't think Dylan's very worried about his shirt right now, Max. Let's get you inside." Mom said, rushing me in the door.

"Val, can I throw this in the wash?" Dylan asked stripping off his shirt. I was blinded by washboard abs and perfect pecs with his chocolate wings unfolded behind him. I swear he did it just to make me ogle him in front of my mother.

"Of course. You know where everything is. Help yourself." My mom pushed me along even though I was perfectly content to just stand there and stare at Dylan like an idiot.

A couple minutes later Mom was looking at the cuts with Ella helping her.

"El, these bandages are kind if tight. Can you grab the scissors for me?" My mom asked, trying to work around them. Ella agreed and headed for the kitchen.

"Nudge fixed these pretty tight." Mom muttered.

"I did them actually." Dylan interjected coming in. Oh geez, why did he have to admit that?

"Yikes!" I tried covering up since I wasn't wearing a shirt in front of Dylan with my mom in the room.

"Oh please, Max. I'm not an idiot." She muttered, continuing to work as Ella brought the scissors back.

"It looks better already." Dylan commented, after Mom cleaned up the wounds.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like they were very deep. I'd give a normal person stitches but you heal so fast, I don't really think you need them. It should be completely healed by tomorrow." Mom added, throwing away the old bandages.

"See, I told you I was fine!" I scolded Dylan, throwing my shirt on.

"My shirt said otherwise. Better safe than sorry." He smiled with a playful shove.

"If you guys are done flirting we're going outside to play Tag." Iggy said, sticking his head in. "Want to come watch, El?"

"Yeah!" She agreed, running out of the room to follow him.

"Yeah, and we're the ones flirting." I muttered to Dylan.

"I'll go." He offered with a smile, knowing I'd want keep an eye on my Flock but spend time with my mom at the same time.

"Thanks." He nodded and left the room, leaving just my mother and me.

"So, I'm guessing by what happened earlier this was not the first time Dylan's seen you without a shirt?" Mom asked smoothly.

"Mom! It's not like that!" I sputtered, knowing good and well it actually was like that.

"Relax Max. I wasn't born yesterday. Just be careful, okay? It was hard on everyone the last time that you…got hurt, and we don't want it to happen again." She said, wrapping her arm around my shoulder.

She knew that talking about Fang was one of my favorite things to do…right after doing taxes and getting teeth pulled.

"Do you still love him?" She asked softly, rubbing my shoulder.

I nodded, blinking back tears.

"Max, if there's one thing that I'm sure of it's how much Fang loves you. And even though he left I have no doubt that wherever he is or whatever he's doing, he'd want you to be happy. Isn't that what you want for him?" She asked.

No, that wasn't what I wanted. I wanted him to come back, let me beat the crap out of him, call him a dirt bag, and THEN be happy.

"Pretty much." I halfway lied, skipping a few steps.

"Then just be careful, go outside and most importantly…have fun!" Mom advised, pushing me out the door.

It was time to start vacation.


	21. Picture Perfect

**Ah, up since 5:45 am. Might be slightly delusional. So if I say that I own Max…I'm lying. I do not own Max. Got it? Good. Goodnight. *Ahem, just for the record I wrote the A/N last night BEFORE I realized I posted the wrong chapter! If that doesn't prove that I was exhausted, nothing does. Sorry I'm a goof. And no DarkWings, no sugar high...otherwise I would have posted the RIGHT chapter LOL. **

"I love, love, love swimming! And water! I love water too! Max, do you think we're ever going to grow gills? I mean, I know you and…a couple other people have them but do you think we'll get them at all, because I think that'd be cool because then I could swim underwater all I wanted and not have to come up for air. Max, what do you think?"

You're probably wondering why no hand bothered to clamp Nudge's mouth shut with all the rambling and all. Honestly, we were just wayyy to happy to bother.

Nudge was doing the backstroke while running her mouth. Iggy was in the hot tub with Ella, chatting away and Gazzy was jumping off of the tallest diving board he could find.

Dylan and I were floating on little inflatable rafts with our sunglasses on.

Mom hadn't told us that this shindig would be in a super sweet five star hotel with a twenty four hour pool.

"I can't believe we're the only ones here." Dylan muttered, reclining a little more.

"I'm pretty sure we're the only people under sixty here." I laughed, sharing a smile with Dylan.

"Hey!" I heard my mom call from behind me. I'd obviously offended her with my previous remark.

"Just kidding, Mom." I laughed nervously as she jumped in the water.

"Ooh, Max is in trouble." Dylan sang, splashing me with water.

"Not as much as you are!" I called, throwing myself onto his raft, and dragging the both of us off of it. We started wrestling in the water, laughing. We both stopped after we'd heard Mom's waterproof camera click but the damage was done.

"That's going on the website! Maybe next year we can get some hot, young scientists to come to our conference, since everyone here is soooo old." She taunted rolling her eyes.

Dylan and I laughed, climbing back onto our rafts.

"Hey Max, can we…hang out tonight?" Dylan asked, sounding a little nervous.

"Dylan, we live together. We hang out every night. Sure we can." I laughed, grabbing my drink from the edge of the pool and taking a sip.

"Yeah, but I was thinking that maybe we could go out to dinner, just you and me? Maybe order some pizza or something for the others…" He suggested.

I thought it over for a second, before I decided to leave it up to the Flock.

"Hey guys, who wants pizza tonight?" I called. My answer was a chorus of yelling and cheers.

"You're on." I told Dylan with a grin.

"So where are you and Dylan going on your date?" Ella asked excitedly jumping on the bed.

"We're just going to get dinner, El. No big deal." I shrugged, even though my palms were sweaty. I refused to admit that it was a date knowing it would just bring on more questions from the Flock.

"Max, did you really only bring jeans? What am I going to do with you?" Nudge screamed going through my entire pack and tearing through my clothes.

"Jeans are fine, Nudge!" I said, trying to snatch my favorite pair away from her. She threw them to Ella who happily joined in her game of keep away.

"I don't think so." Nudge said, going through her pack. I told her not to pack so much and she'd complained about it halfway to Mom's.

"Here. This is…jean related." She said, pulling out a denim mini skirt that she'd bought with her gift cards that she'd gotten for her birthday.

I normally wouldn't let her buy something as impractical as a miniskirt, but it was her birthday and her money to do with as she pleased.

"Nudge, I can't wear this! We're going to be flying!" I said, throwing it back to her.

"It's just going to be you and Dylan! No one is going to be flying behind you!" Nudge said, shuffling through the pack to find a top to go with it.

"Unless you're worried about Dylan sneaking a peek at your undies." Ella winked.

I blushed furiously and shut up before they continued with that accusation.

I put on the skirt and the purple tank top Nudge handed me and slammed the door behind me.

I pounded on the door to the boy's room ready to get out of there.

Iggy opened the door and let me in. Everyone in the room froze and stared at me.

"What?" Iggy asked with irritation since he couldn't see.

"Max is wearing a skirt." Gazzy muttered in disbelief.

"If any of you value your lives you won't say another word." I threatened with narrowed eyes.

"Nudge get to you?" Mom asked with a smile. I nodded sheepishly.

"You sure you know where you're going?"She asked Dylan. I took a moment to stare noticing the perfectly fitted blue button up shirt and the blue jeans that were just tight enough to keep my attention.

"Yeah, thanks for the help, Val." He said.

Nudge and Ella came into the room since they were going to be having pizza and a movie night with the guys.

"You ready to go?" Dylan asked smiling. I couldn't help but feel self conscious with the way that he was looking at me. It was like he couldn't believe I was real or something.

"Let's get out of here." I muttered, following Dylan as we threw ourselves out of the window.

"Let's land here for a second." Dylan said quickly, heading down.

I was absolutely confused since the only thing around us was trees, but followed him down. We both landed on a sturdy branch.

"You okay?" I asked as he folded in his wings some.

"No."

"Is it your wings? Did you get hurt in that Eraser fight? You know, you might have pulled something from carrying me so far yesterday." I added, leaning forward to inspect him for any injury.

"I'm not hurt. I just couldn't go fly anymore without telling you how amazing you look." He smirked, grabbing me around my waist and pulling me to him.

Things with Dylan had gotten a lot more comfortable in the past few months. We didn't act like a couple in front of the Flock. We'd agreed that holding hands would be the most affection we'd show in front of the others. And despite the crazy make out session we'd had after our first official "date" things had slowed down a lot. We still made out but we agreed to take it nice and slow. I knew if we kept it up though it wouldn't always be this way though.

I felt Dylan's hand trailing up and down my arms leaving goose bumps. His other hand was around the back of my neck and playing with my hair, and slowly but surely pulling my face towards his.

Our lips crashed together, obviously frustrated from our lack of alone time lately. Our mouths parted and I pushed him against the trunk of the tree, inching closer and closer until there was no space left between us. Dylan grabbed the back of my legs and pulled me up. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist to try and keep from falling. Not that it would matter if I did, with the wings and all.

One of his hands stayed at the small of my back while the other trailed up and down my leg now, instead of my arm. I gasped a little as his hand raked up my leg, dangerously close to the hem of the skirt.

"Are you okay? I can stop…" He offered, though his voice did sound reluctant.

"No, don't. I'm fine." I lied. I was nervous as all hell, but strangely happy too. Being with him felt like such a rush…one that I hadn't felt in a very long time.

I slipped my hands up his shirt, enjoying the feel of his muscles underneath my hands. I remembered staring at him without his shirt yesterday.

I was shocked when Dylan mimicked the action and slipped his hands up my shirt too.

"Let me see." He murmured, pulling up the side of my injury.

The cuts had already healed over, no longer gaping or gashing. I had three pink, puckered scars on the right side of my ribs.

"Does it hurt?" He whispered.

"No." I was amazed at how meek and quiet my voice was.

To my surprise Dylan bent his head and kissed the scars lightly.

"I'm not letting you get hurt again." He resolved strongly.

We gazed at each other, waiting to see who would make the next move.

"We should probably get going to dinner." I mumbled, feeling myself flush.

"Yeah, we probably should." He muttered back, getting closer. I threw myself off the branch before we did something either one of us would regret.


	22. Giving in

**Lots of language in this chapter. I don't own Maximum Ride. Duh.**

"Dammit!" Nat cursed as I kicked her legs out from under her. I heard her head hit the ground with a soft thud, but wasn't really concerned. It wasn't hard enough for her to be seriously injured. I started to walk away when I felt a pair of knees digging into my shoulder and a strong pair of arms wrap around my neck trying to choke me. I reached my arms back, grabbing the bottom hem of shirt while the other wrapped around her neck and threw her over my shoulder. She landed on her stomach and I heard her lose her breath. I pulled her arms behind her and put my knee in between her wings.

"Son of a bitch! Let me up!" She complained.

"She would like it rough…" AJ muttered quietly.

We both glared at him and I chose that moment to let Nat off the ground. She charged at him ready to tackle him to the ground and beat him to death until she saw that he couldn't defend himself.

"I can't even do it. Have you ever even thrown a punch in your life?" She screamed at AJ. He just hung his head in shame and didn't answer.

"Great! Yeah Fang, he's going to do an awesome job beating the shit out of Erasers…with his laptop!" She huffed, heading to take off and head back to the hotel we had hacked our way into. I caught up with her quickly and grabbed her wrist with narrowed eyes.

"How about you help him out instead of complaining?" I offered, making it sound like more of a threat than a suggestion.

We stared each other down for second until her face erupted in a smile. This is why Nat was my second though, in the end she does what I order.

"Whatever you say…boss." She laughed lightly.

"Okay you little perv. First lesson…how to block." She smiled, aiming a roundhouse kick to his ribs. He finally figured out what to do after the second or third kick and he was having trouble breathing.

Unfortunately Nat was right. AJ was a liability. He was really good with the computer and his talents could be really useful but he'd need to know how to defend himself in case of an Eraser attack, and he'd need to learn quick. Nat was probably the best solution for that.

By the time Nat got done with him that day AJ could at least block most attacks, and even throw a couple of punches and kicks to defend himself, but we'd still have to keep an eye on him if Erasers attacked.

AJ pulled a change of clothes from his pack and threw it on one of the double beds, claiming it as his. Nat threw her pack on the foldout couch.

"I'll take it." I offered, throwing my stuff down on it instead.

"I've got it."

"No, let me."

"Rock, paper, scissors." She said, compromising as much as she would be willing.

In the end her rock beat my scissors, but her prize was the foldout couch, while mine was the other double bed. Hardly fair. I gave up flopping down and powering on the laptop. I checked my e-mail to find no new messages. I'd never admit it, but I was missing Max's e-mails, even the ones damning me to Hell and calling me traitor. I wondered what she was doing now.

There was only one way I could find out.

No, I wasn't going to e-mail her back. Talking to her and not being able to go back would just be torture for both of us.

That's when I did something I hadn't done in three months according to the internet history log.

I logged onto the CSM's website.

Why would I do that, you ask? Easy, how else would I know the world was saved? I didn't leave Max for no reason. I knew she'd be fighting. I imagined her face, bloody and bruised. She was probably tired and weak, but no matter how rough she looked I always saw the same look of determination.

The image I had in my head was the exact opposite of what was on my screen.

Max was clean and laughing. She wasn't exactly roughing it either, in a hotel pool splashing Dylan with water. The picture had been edited so you couldn't see the wings, but it was them. I felt my stomach clench, out of nerves and anger.

Maybe it was because I left, but she looked the happiest and most carefree I'd ever seen her.

I clicked on the link announcing pictures from the latest CSM conference to see if there were other pictures of the Flock.

Sure, there was picture after picture of old, boring scientists. But the last few were faces I easily recognized. I saw Ella and Nudge posing, all smiles for the camera in a fancy hotel lobby. Nudge looked more mature and had done something to her hair to calm it down. I saw Gazzy and Iggy shooting a thumbs up with room service orders stacked around their hotel room. At the bottom I saw a group shot with Dr. Martinez, Ella, and the entire Flock, minus Angel. Even Angel's absence wasn't enough to distract me from the fact that Max and Dylan were holding hands.

I felt the weight shift as Nat flopped onto my bed.

"What are you looking at? You look like you're about to hurl. I told you that last burger was a bad idea." She rambled, peering over my shoulder to see my staring at the picture of Max and Dylan.

"Wow. Hello. He is a hottie." She murmured.

I glared at her angrily, but it didn't have the reaction I'd hoped. Instead of cowering or backing down, she just kissed me, and given what I'd just seen, I let her.

She was right. 20 years was a long time, and obviously Max wasn't waiting for me.

Before I knew it, I was lying on my back with her on top of me, both of us breathing like we hadn't had air in hours. Despite the heavy breathing, we never broke the kiss. My hands slid up the back of her shirt, brushing her wings, while her hands rested on my chest. I felt her hands slide down to the button of my jeans.

"Woah!" AJ yelped. I saw him do an about face and walk right back into the bathroom after catching us in our…compromising position.

I pulled myself up while Nat knotted her hands in my hair, still on top of me.

"I'm coming out now!" AJ yelled, opening the door to the bathroom slowly.

I sat Nat down on the bed and grabbed spare clothes out of my pack.

"I'm going to take a shower."

"I'll be here." She smiled, sliding the covers back and slipping into my bed.

What had I done?


	23. Mother's intuitition

"I can't believe we're just now getting to this." I muttered, breaking out the rollers and paint brushes, and setting them on the plastic tarp beneath our feet.

Nudge, Iggy, and Gazzy had stayed in Arizona with my mom for another week or so while Dylan and I headed back early to paint his room. Personally, I think Iggy just wanted to stick close to Ella and Nudge and Gazzy didn't want to leave him.

"This paint's been here for almost a year now." I realized, mixing the paint in the can.

"Yep, birthday seventeen is next month." Dylan said, painting a massive blue streak down the middle of one wall.

"We should coordinate gifts so that we don't get Nudge the same thing this year." I smiled.

"She didn't seem to mind very much." We both laughed, remembering her eyes light up like a kid in a candy store.

"Maybe we should get Iggy a gift card to a restaurant so he can take Ella out on a date." Dylan suggested with a wink.

"Hey! That is my baby sister! And Iggy is a pervert. I still don't know that I fully support that." I replied, being completely honest.

"Think about it, Max. They could fall madly in love, get married one day and have a little winged niece or nephew for us." Dylan smiled, wrapping his arms around my waist.

Us? I felt a small wave of panic take me over, followed by a strong sense of determination.

No sir. I had somewhere to be in…eighteen years, four months and two days. I pulled away from Dylan's grasp and continued on the wall I was painting.

"What did I do?" Dylan asked with a sigh, setting his head on my shoulder.

"Nothing." I lied, sounding shorter with him than I wanted.

"Max, I may not have known you your entire life, but I can tell when you're lying. I know it bothers you when I say things like that, but I love you, Max. You're going to have to get used to it." He smiled, wrapping his arms around me tightly.

Dylan just told me he loved me. And he's not saying anything, so he's probably waiting on me to say it back. That's not going to happen though. I still loved Fang even after two years. I still loved him even though he broke his promise to me and left. I still loved him. Crap.

"Thanks, Dyl." That was the best I could do. I did care enough about Dylan not to lie to him, and tell him I loved him when I didn't.

We continued painting in silence for a little while until I decided it was too quiet and drifted back to the subject of our birthdays coming up again.

"So, what do you want for your birthday this year?" I smirked, imagining his response would be a new PlayStation3, since Iggy and Gazzy had disassembled the last one for bomb parts.

I looked at Dylan to see him bright red, like he was embarrassed, which had to be impossible. He'd just told me he loved me. What could be more embarrassing than that?

"What is it? It can't be that bad." I laughed, shoving into his shoulder. To my surprise Dylan caught my shoulder and shoved me against a wall that had yet to be painted.

I was completely amazed when he kissed me with the most intense, heated kiss that we'd had yet. Our mouths parted and our tongues touched, making me shiver. I wrapped my arms around Dylan's neck while he pulled me up, wrapping my legs around his waist. We couldn't get any closer if we tried.

"Max?" Dylan asked, his breathing ragged, and his voice raspy.

"Yeah?" I felt Dylan's mouth trailing kisses up my neck until he reached my ear.

"I want you."

* * *

I couldn't believe what I was doing. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, but still felt hysterical inside. I had thought this over, hours and hours in my head. I had thought about this, probably more than I'd thought about anything in my life. After all, I was Maximum "Charging off" Ride. But this was an important decision. There could be no charging off when it came to this, which is why I had it meticulously planned.

The Flock had celebrated their birthdays a couple of days ago. We'd cooked plenty of food, lots of cake and had tons of presents. I looked at the iPod Dylan had given me with all of my favorite songs on it and smiled. He wasn't Fang. I wasn't in love with him. But he knew me, almost as well as Fang had. But I cared about him, and even though it wasn't like how I felt about Fang I did love him in a way. That's why I wanted to do this.

Even though I still loved Fang I accepted that he wasn't coming back for a really long time, and as selfish as it was I didn't want to be alone. Dylan supported me, and while he couldn't fill the empty whole in my heart that Fang had left, he still had a place in it.

That's why Dylan and I were going on a three day "camping trip" for our birthdays. Yes, there are quotation marks around camping trip, because that's not where we were actually going. Ella was out of school and of course Iggy wanted to stay with my mom and spend as much time as possible with her. Nudge was excited about it too, claiming she would fill me in on all the girl talk and gossip that I would be missing while I was gone. So, we were flying the rest of the Flock to Mom's and then going "camping" near the Grand Canyon.

"Are you sure you don't need help packing, Max? Because I mean, I know how you are when you travel and you never pack cute clothes and I know you're going to be with Dylan the whole weekend so I thought you might want to look cute even though you say you guys aren't together. I mean, we totally know that you and Dylan are together, Max and it's totally cool with us, so if you want me to pack for you…" Nudge offered, grabbing my pack. I snatched it back before she could look in and find the evidence of what I had planned.

"I've got it, Nudge. We're going camping. I don't really need to look cute." I shrugged, feeling my face turn red.

"O…kay. If you change your mind let me know." She said, realizing there was something off about my reaction.

I sighed as she left and realized how ridiculous I was being as I packed my clothes. I take on blood thirsty Erasers…so why are my hand shaking? I mean, I'm just packing a tank top…and underwear. That Dylan would see me in…and out of. I tried to pull myself together but I was still a nervous wreck. What was I doing?

"Are you ready to go yet?" Iggy asked irritably at my door. I stuffed the underwear and the small, guilty box into my pack and zipped it up, thankful Iggy couldn't see what I was packing.

"Just finished. Let's go." I said, throwing my pack on.

A couple hours later we were at Mom's. It was mid afternoon so Dylan and I had a couple hours to get to our destination.

"Can I talk to you for a second, Max?" Mom asked while the rest of the Flock settled in. My palms were sweaty and nervous, but I followed Mom into the other room anyway.

"Max, I'm trusting you and Dylan to make good decisions this weekend. I know you're fully capable of taking care of yourselves but just be smart, okay?"

I remembered the last seventeen years of my life and how many times I lied with a straight face to save my own life.

"Of course we will, Mom. We're just going camping. There's nothing to worry about." I smiled, hoping I'd been convincing enough.

"Oh Max, I'm so sorry. I know you're not a normal teenage. I trust you and Dylan completely but I just had this weird feeling like I needed to say that."

Weird feeling? I'd call that mother's intuition.

"No problem, Mom. We'll see you in a few days." I said, getting ready to head out.

"You ready?" I asked Dylan as we headed into the kitchen. He nodded, grabbing a large Tupperware full of cookies and bringing it with us.

"You always take such good care of her. I know I can trust you. Thank you, Dylan." Mom said, looking like she was about to tear up. What was wrong with her?

"No prob, Val. You're the best." He said, giving her a one arm squeeze.

"We gotta go if we're going to make it before dark." I rushed, feeling weird and uncomfortable.

"Have fun, guys! See you later!" Ella said, waving behind us as we took off.

"Uh Max, I don't think we're going the right way." Dylan observed noticing all the lights and tall buildings in the city. It was the exact opposite of where we were supposed to be going. We were supposed to be in the wilderness camping not a large Arizona city with tall buildings, lots of lights and shopping malls, which I had no intention to visit.

"We're going the right way." I answered quietly. Dylan looked at me and smirked, knowing that I had a plan.


	24. Eek!

**Okay people, here's the deal. I don't do lemons, so even coming close (like this) makes me feel really...prude. Anyway, I tried. I've always skirted around the whole sex thing but here it is. Review and tell me what a goody goody I am. I don't own anything either. **

We walked into the hotel lobby holding hands. Dylan had obviously figured out that we weren't going camping but he never questioned me. Maybe he knew what I was doing.

"Martinez. Checking in." I told the desk clerk upon arrival.

"Ah, yes. Here you are." He told me handing me two room keys, since I had already paid for the room.

"Thanks."

"We're staying here?" Dylan asked skeptically. I only nodded in response, feeling more and more anxious about what this weekend held.

We opened the door to find a huge king size bed, with white linens and dark wood frame.

"Wow." We muttered at the same time. I knew this place was nice, but I didn't know it was this nice. I flopped on the bed getting comfortable.

"Why don't you take a shower and then we'll go to dinner?" I offered, hoping he didn't notice the nerves in my voice. Fang would have.

Stop! Stop thinking about him, stop being nervous and just relax.

"You sure you don't want to go first?" He asked.

"I'm sure. Go ahead." I said, way too quickly. Dylan simply shrugged and went to shower, leaving me to myself.

The next fifteen minutes were the longest of my life. I will never admit any of this out loud but I went through a lot of feelings. I went through fear, nervousness, even giddiness, but in the end my curiosity and determination won out over everything. I wanted to do this. I wanted to know what it was like, and I knew how much it mean to Dylan, because unlike _some people, _Dylan told me how he felt.

I fought back bitterness, picturing Fang already over me and with another girl…which he probably was.

I took a deep breath as I heard the shower shut off and did my best to look confident and ignore the little foil wrapper on the night stand.

"Hi." I said when Dylan came out of the shower. He hadn't bothered to put on a shirt yet, wearing only jeans and letting his wings dry behind him.

I tried to be cool and relaxed, but I knew my voice was tight and nervous. I sat on the bed, only in a tank top and boy short underwear.

So far, it was the most naked I had been in front of another person and I felt more vulnerable than if I had taken on a pack full of Erasers with my hands tied behind my back.

I felt Dylan eyes staring at me up and down, his mouth slightly agape. I guess surprised wasn't quite the word.

"You look amazing." He mumbled.

"Thanks. Happy birthday." I smiled nervously. Instantly I knew that he understood. I walked to him, wrapping my arms around his neck. His arms found my waist and our lips found each others. His lips eventually moved, concentrating on my neck and collarbone, both of which were very naked with my skimpy tank top. My hands traveled down his arms, and then trailed down his chest. My fingertips traced down his abs to the button of his jeans.

I started to pull them down when he hesitated. He looked like he was dazed and dreaming. He probably thought that he was.

"Max, are you sure?" He asked. I could tell he was reluctant to ask, scared that I might change my mind. But I've never been one for changing my mind much. I'd thought this over and made my decision, and I would follow through with it.

I nodded with certainty and pulled his jeans down, leaving him only in his boxers.

He picked me up gently and grabbed the wrapper off of the night stand. From then on I knew nothing would be the same.

* * *

Ow. That was the only thing I could think when I woke up the next morning. What had I done to get so sore…oh. Memories flooded back like a dam busted open at the seam. I replayed the night in my head and realized that I didn't have any regrets…not that I would admit it if I did.

Sure, I wanted it to be Fang lying next to me in bed, completely naked, but it wasn't going to happen. Life sucks that way, so you have to take the good things you can get out of it. Dylan was one of those good things and I was glad it was him if it couldn't be Fang.

I stirred a little but felt Dylan's grip on me tighten though I needed to get up.

"I'm going to get up and take a shower." I whispered, sitting up. I expected him to keep sleeping but to my surprise Dylan just opened his eyes, stretching with a yawn.

"Can I come?" He asked with a smirk. I smiled back and nodded, glad nothing was uncomfortable.

"You okay?" He asked, as we both climbed into the shower. I turned the water up warmer and nodded.

"I'm a little sore, but I'll live." I said, feeling Dylan sneaking closer to me. We were both naked in the shower, covered with water. It was really hard not to feel self conscious.

"Max, last night was perfect. Thank you. That was THE best birthday present ever, but I think you're forgetting something." He smirked mischievously.

"What?" I asked quietly.

"It was you birthday too." He smiled, sitting on the edge of the tub and kissing my belly button before he drifted lower.

Wow.


	25. Paging Dr Fang

**Holy crap the new Gallagher Girls book is AWESOME! Love it! That will probably be my next fic, just as a heads up. I do not own Maximum Ride of anyone associated with it, just to remind you.**

***Fang's POV***

"Nat! Look out!" I shouted, ducking under a punch, and shooting up with a flying uppercut. The Eraser I was fighting flew backwards spitting blood.

It was too late though. I saw the Eraser grab Nat around her waist trying to drag her off. She was fighting with everything that she had, but as she knocked down one Eraser, three more were ready to take his place.

I looked at her making sure she was ready and I saw her nod slightly giving me the okay. I jumped off as quickly as I could and shot across at a low height. Nat held her hand up, and I grabbed it, dragging her behind me in the air. She looked up and winked, letting go of my hand. She stumbled for a second, but recovered quickly running to keep up speed and jumping into the air folding out her wings.

We met up with AJ at the rendezvous point, approximately five miles away. He was already on his laptop, typing like mad.

"What is the deal? They really don't want us to get to this girl." I said in frustration, slamming my pack on the ground.

We'd started going after the girl AJ had found, Luca Morris, but have already been attacked by Erasers three times in two days.

"I don't know. I'm trying to break into Itex's database, but their encryption software is really good. We may just have to find out when we get there." AJ answered, sighing in frustration.

"Okay, let's get going. The sooner we get to this girl, the sooner we'll have one more person to help us keep the Erasers off of us. Pack up." I ordered, throwing my pack on.

"SHIT!" AJ yelled dropping his laptop and his pack as three Erasers broke through the woods. Nat and I dropped out packs and got ready to fight again.

"AJ, U and A!" I ordered, but it was too late. An Eraser crouched on all fours, and jumped, catching him in midair.

"Unh!" I heard Nat grunt as she flew into the Eraser, her shoulder colliding with his ribs, making him drop AJ. In between punches and kicks I saw AJ hit the ground with a thud. Luckily they weren't too far off the ground. He would hurt tomorrow but nothing would be broken.

I was fighting off three Erasers at once. I saw Nat taking on two at the same time, struggling but surviving. When I turned back I noticed I had lost one. Normally losing an Eraser would be something to be happy about, but something wasn't right.

"Run, you idiot!" I heard Nat shout but it was too late. The missing Eraser was diving towards AJ. I winced, knowing that his claws would be shredding AJ's side to shreds, but as I kept fighting I heard a higher pitched scream than I expected.

Nat.

I saw blood staining her shirt fast. She looked like she was dizzy and about to faint, but she kept swinging, kicking, grabbing and throwing all the same, and boy, was she in a mood.

Nat had been trained to kill, but that didn't mean that she liked it…usually at least. But this time I saw sheer anger as she literally began tearing Erasers apart with her bare hands. I'd never seen anything like it, and I've seen some weird stuff. Necks snapped, blood spilled, and body parts went flying.

By the time we were done most of the Erasers were lying on the ground, some of them in more than one place. AJ looked like he'd just seen a ghost, scared out of his mind. And Nat barely had her eyes open.

"Fang…" She muttered stumbling forward. I ran to her as fast as I could, catching her before she hit the ground.

"AJ! " I yelled for a third time before his eyes lost the glazed over look and I realized he was paying attention. "Get us a place to stay tonight…quick!" I ordered.

I lifted up Nat's shirt to see the wounds and the blood pouring out quickly. I tried to remember all the times Iggy had done first aid. I'd need bandages, and a lot of them. The wounds were deep too. She'd need stitches. I only knew two people who could do that, and I didn't think Jeb or Dr. Martinez would welcome me back with open arms right now.

AJ came through finding us a hotel ten minutes away in a small town outside of Omaha. I changed shirts since mine was stained with blood and tried to act as natural as possible. Is this how freaked out Max was whenever one of us got injured? My heart was racing, I was sweating like crazy and I knew my hands were shaking.

Maybe I'd screwed up by leaving Max. Maybe I wasn't cut out to be leader. Someone might die because…Shut up, act natural. Save her life, wallow in self pity later. God, how did Max do this?

I opened the door to a third floor room and AJ flew in carrying Nat in his arms.

"I need some gauze bandages, a needle, thread, and a whole lot of antiseptic." I ordered AJ throwing him a wad of cash from my pocket.

"Are you serious? Are you really…?"

"GO!" I yelled. I grabbed one of the hotel towels, pressing it to her side to stop the bleeding. It started slowing, but didn't stop at all. I pulled away long enough to pull up the laptop and click one of the bookmarked sites. I'd hoped I'd never have to use it, but I would today. It was a wilderness survival site, describing how to extract poison from wild animal bites, scrounge up edible food, and yes, stitch together an open wound when you weren't in civilization.

"Got it!" AJ flew in skidding and threw a plastic bag from a pharmacy on the bed where Nat was laying.

I took a deep breath. Don't think about it. Just do it. Don't think. Just do.

Before then I'd never even sewn a button on a shirt, but somehow I managed to stitch together a gaping side wound. Thank God for the internet.

I don't want to describe it. I don't want to think about it. I don't know how I did it. The only thing I do know is that I never wanted to do it again.

"What the Hell happened to me?" She muttered, trying to pull herself up a couple of hours later.

"Stay down." I growled. We had our differences, but Nat was one of the only people who could make this Flock work. I needed her. And while we had our differences, I cared about her too. Not in the same way I cared about Max, but I was still glad to have her around.

"Erasers." I answered simply. She looked down lifting up her shirt.

"Holy shit! Did you do that?" She gasped, even though she still sounded weak.

"I did what I had to." I managed. "Never make me do it again."

I went to my pack and pulled out two of the pills I had stolen from Dr. M's medicine cabinet so, so long ago…pain pills from when Ella broke her arm. I handed them to her, along with a bottle of juice AJ had brought back with the medical supplies. She swallowed them down with a gulp and shivered.

"Cold?" She nodded.

"You lost a lot of blood." I explained. I saw AJ shuffle in from the corner of my eyes.

"I'm next door. I'm turning in." He said quietly, his eyes never leaving the ground. He rushed out before either of us could say anything.

"He feels guilty." Nat observed, almost sounding sympathetic. I nodded, knowing it was probably true.

Nat huddled under the covers, hugging them to her as tightly as she could.

"Fang?" She asked shyly. Shy was something I'd never seen Nat be, though I'd been with her for almost a year.

"Yeah?" I managed with a yawn.

"Will you?" She requested, scooting over in the king size bed. I debated internally for a second before I peeled my shirt off and climbed into bed too, hugging her to me to warm her up.


	26. Meeting Luca

**Starting on my Gallagher Girls FF too. I don't own that or Maximum Ride...just to remind you.**

This was the part of being leader that I hated the most. I knew I'd have to ring the door bell at some point, but wasn't in a huge hurry to do it. But I needed to. We'd finally made it to the address that Luca Morris called home. What would I say? Would her parents answer? Who is this girl? What's her story? Only one way to find out.

I rang the door bell and waited.

Less than a minute later I heard the bolt shift and the door open.

"Hi Fang. Nat. AJ. Come on in."

Weird.

I looked to Nat, who was still healing from her injuries two days ago. She looked a lot better, but still had her stitches in. We'd take them out tomorrow or so. She shrugged, strutting in and making herself at home.

"You're Luca?" I assumed, closing the door behind me.

"Yes, I am. Come on in, Fang. I'll explain everything."

We sat on the sofa, drinking some sodas and eating some chocolate chip cookies from a box. It made me sorely miss Max, but hey, when didn't I? I got angry thinking about she and Dylan and what they might be up to right about now.

"Are your parents home?" AJ asked in between cookies.

"No, I don't have parents. At least not that I know of. I live here alone." She answered. This girl was thirteen, maybe fourteen and she was living here alone? How did she manage that?

"I just escaped from the Itex Facility a couple of months ago. I'm currently blackmailing the landlord for free rent." She stated.

"How are you blackmailing him?" Nat asked.

"If I told you that it wouldn't exactly be blackmail anymore, now would it?" Luca grinned mischievously.

Huh.

"How did you escape? And how do you know who we are?" I asked her, biting another cookie.

"Some of the scientists asked my opinion sometimes on different cases. They would have me review files and make medical recommendations. I saw AJ's file a few months ago. I have a photographic memory so it stuck. I…saw Nat in another file. That's how I knew it was her. And obviously I know you from your blog, Fang. "

This girl was off her rocker. Why would brilliant (yet completely insane) scientists ask for the opinion of a thirteen…or fourteen year old?

"They let me read books. I like to study a lot. I understood the recombinant theory they used by the time I turned twelve. I've studied everything though…Math, English, Foreign Languages, Physics, Ancient Civilizations and History…I love it all." She smiled.

Okay, we get it. You're smart.

"One of the books I was given was on meditation and the body. It discussed a form of Bhuddist meditation that was heatedly debated. People wondered if it actually worked. So, I tried it myself."

"What is it?" AJ asked.

"It slows the body down so much it mimics death. You can't hear or feel breathing. The heart slows down at an alarming rate. Professionals argued that even if it did work, it shouldn't be used because it's too dangerous." She said, eating another cookie.

Nat and I looked at each other skeptically. This girl was crazy, a complete and total waste of time. Even if she did have wings, she was obviously unstable…not someone I wanted near my Flock.

"I understand why you don't believe me. It is rather incredible. I can show you if you like." She volunteered.

I shrugged, not really believing she could do it anyway, until she laid down on the floor and closed her eyes.

After a couple of minutes Nat lost patience. Big surprise there.

"Okay, this is a waste of time. Let's go." She ordered, heading for the door. Luca looked like she was asleep, and had no reaction whenever Nat spoke. But my curiosity got the best of me.

I bent down to listen to her heartbeat. I braced, waiting for Luca to flinch as I got so close and invaded her personal space. Nothing. I put my hand to her neck to feel for a pulse. Nothing again.

"AJ?" I called. He came over to do the same thing. He put his hand underneath her nose to feel for breath.

"Either she's not lying, or she is really dead." AJ said, sounding more scared than he had looked two days before.

"She's not dead!" Nat called, kicking Luca in the side.

Nothing. No flinch. No grabbing. No fighting back. Not even any eyes opening. Luca was laying there like a corpse.

"Wake up!" I ordered, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. Still no response.

"Luca!" AJ screamed in her ear. Two minutes went by and we really believed she was dead…until her eyes fluttered open.

"Sorry if I scared you. I have to come out of it gradually. If I come out too fast my body can go into shock and I could actually die." She explained, sitting up on her own.

"Holy shit." Nat whispered.

"I told you she was for real!" AJ yelled, holding his hand up for a high five from Luca. She just looked confused, not returning the gesture. High Fiving wasn't common in Itex facilities, I'm sure.

"Wait. You said you saw me in another file? Have you seen my file?" Nat asked suddenly. I'd forgotten Luca had mentioned that little fact.

Luca seemed ashamed, but was ready to answer her question.

"It wasn't your file, Nat. Sorry."

"Then who's?" Nat asked angrily, on the verge of demanding answers. I moved to settle her down, not wanting her to rip open her wounds.

"Jamie's." Luca answered sadly.

"This one?" Nat demanding, slamming the manila file on the coffee table in front of her. It was the same one we had found in New York.

"The take out all evidence of the living in DOA files." Luca replied.

DOA files. Dead on Arrival. Deceased. Jamie really was dead.

Nat looked angry for a moment, but no surprise crossed her face. She had known it after all and dealt with it. Luca wasn't telling her anything new.

I interrupted quietly, not wanting anyone to react from the tension.

"Do you know why we're here?" I asked Luca.

She nodded, finishing off her soda. "Yep. I was just waiting on you guys."


	27. Picking up a stray

**Hey guys! Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July if you're stateside. Sorry it's been a while since I posed, but here's a new chapter. Enjoy! I still dont' own anything associated with Maximum Ride. **

"Can't we take a break yet?" AJ whined as we flew over a mountainous part of Kansas.

"We just took a break an hour ago. Suck it up and keep going." Nat sighed miserably.

She'd been taught that complaining was a sign of weakness and she refused to show any signs of it. Does that remind you of anyone else you know?

"He's right though. It's going to start getting dark soon and I doubt we'll be able to get to a decent town before nightfall. Keep your eyes open for a place to camp."

Nat shot me a look and rolled her eyes, but I saw a faint smile on her lips.

We kept going for another twenty miles or so until Luca broke the silence.

"Fang, what is that?"

I stared at the rock ledge she was pointing at. One thing was for sure, whatever she was seeing had wings, big ones at that. I thought of the Ferruginous Hawks at Lake Meade, the biggest birds I'd ever seen in my life, but this was still bigger.

We got closer and I sped ahead of the others to check with Nat at my side.

"Don't get too close, you idiot. If it is a bird it could tear you to shreds." She warned.

"Worried?" I asked quirking an eyebrow. I didn't expect Nat to have actual concerns for my well being.

"Yes, because if you stick me with these brats you really are a dead man." She smirked, but I could tell she was at least halfway serious. I was shocked that she actually did care a little.

As we got closer I saw the wings move, noticing two legs and a shaggy mop of hair.

"Looks like another brat to me." I commented to Nat, flying ahead of her.

I slid on the ledge, intentionally making noises so I didn't scare him. He was young, probably around Gazzy's age or so. His curly brown hair looked like he hadn't had it cut in a couple of months.

"Hey."

"Awesome!" He called ruffling his feathers behind him.

Nat looked at me, shaking her head at his instant enthusiasm and naiveté.

"I'm Fang." I introduced myself.

"No way! I was going to try and find you guys! Hi Max! Where's Angel, and Gazzy? I really wanted to meet them. Are they close?" He started rambling and I instantly noticed the irritated look on Nat's face.

"She's not Max…but how do you know about us?" I asked, ignoring all of his questions.

"I saw Angel's news conference. Where were you guys?" The kid asked, his eye lighting up like Christmas. Nat looked at me and I saw the unspoken questions on her face.

Where were Max and I during the press conference Angel had scheduled? Were we alone? Nat wanted to know…now, not that it was any of her concern.

I thought back to my time in Las Vegas with Max and tried not to smile like an idiot.

"What's your name? We should probably talk." I said, as AJ and Luca caught up with us.

We started a fire and pulled out some canned food I had been carrying.

"I left the Flock that you know. This is Nat, AJ, and Luca. We're trying to help Max save the world." I began, getting ready to go into the stupid speech I hated so much.

"Cool. Can I come with you?" Milo asked.

That was it. No questions. No 'how are you going to do it'. Just cool, I'm in.

"Um, sure." I answered, dumbstruck.

Milo explained that he had been living with one of the white coats and that she had taken care of him. Everything was fine until he went into her study one day, something he wasn't supposed to do, and found all of her notes and journals.

He read story after story, almost none of them with happy endings and decided to leave. He'd just left a couple of days ago but had already made it a state over. That's not bad for a kid his age without any real way of taking care of himself.

"You're probably starving." Luca said as I threw him another can out of my pack. I'd have to stock up again when we got to Oklahoma City.

"I can always eat, but I just ate a couple of hours ago." He commented casually, pulling out a credit card.

"How did you get that?" I asked.

"Well, it wasn't exactly legal…"He trailed with a smile, telling us about his telekinesis. He'd lifted some guy's wallet off of him after he saw him kick a dog.

It took a lot of effort to tell him he should use his powers more responsibly and not to laugh…but hey, I did what I had to as leader.

"Not saying that it's not useful, but that will always be a last resort…"

"Unless they're real assholes." Nat interjected.

I bowed my head guiltily and nodded.

"We'll talk some more tomorrow when we hit the air again, but for right now everyone needs to get some rest." I ordered. I threw Milo my pack and the small blanket inside, telling him we'd get him one tomorrow.

"Go ahead and turn in. I'll take first watch." I volunteered.

Everyone settled into an alcove in the cavern which provided some decent shelter. I'd just gotten settled when Nat came up.

"So, where were you?" She asked, sliding into the spot next to me.

"With Max." I answered, not elaborating any more than that. She nodded silently before I decided to tell her. "The Flock kicked Max out. Angel decided she should be leader and had everyone vote about who they wanted. In the end they decided Angel should be leader, so Max and I left."

"They didn't want Max as their leader?" Nat asked disbelievingly.

"It was a weird time…for everyone. They didn't like where the Flock was going." I said, shutting my mouth quickly, realizing I was giving Nat more ammo for make her 'I hate Max' case.

"So she isn't perfect?" Nat asked triumphantly.

"She is to me." I shot back quickly. The shock on Nat's face was priceless.

"It was weird for them…to see Max and me together. They thought we were forgetting about them so they kicked her out, knowing I'd follow her wherever she went. That left the seven year old in charge. You can imagine how long that lasted."

Nat seemed to be thinking over what I'd said. "Where did you go?" She whispered quietly, trying not to wake the others even though they were pretty far away.

"Vegas." I answered. I thought when Max and I went to the casinos, the circus, breakfast. I never had to leave her side. I missed it.

"I'm surprised you didn't come back married." Nat scoffed, breaking me out of my reverie.

"We were barely fifteen! We weren't ready for that!" I chuckled a little.

"So what were you ready for?" Nat asked boldly, her voice full of insinuation.

"Nothing happened if that's what you mean." I replied coldly, wondering if it always came back to sex for her.

"So what we did…that really was the farthest you've gone?" She asked smiling.

"Get some rest…" I ordered, but it was a waste of breath. Nat had already thrown one leg over me, straddling my lap.

"It's almost been two years, Fang. What are you ready for now?" Nat whispered, kissing my neck. Her hands were warm, trailing down my back, barely touching my wings. I felt her small frame on top of me, realizing I had a choice to make. I grabbed her waist, my large hands wrapping nearly all the way around. It made me miss Max's curves.

"I'm ready for bed. Take second watch, would you?" I asked smirking, picking her up by her waist and setting her on the ground. I thought she'd be angry or grouchy for breaking the close contact but she looked smug. I bent down, pecking her lips and started heading to the cave.

"Hey genius, where are you sleeping tonight?" She asked. I turned around just in time to see her throw her blanket and her backpack at me.


	28. Ruby

**Sooo...my computer died...again. It's in the shop for 2-3 weeks and I didn't have the latest chapters backed up. What does that mean? That this is the THIRD time I've written this chapter, so pardon me if it is lame. Anyway, I don't own anything Max and I'll try to update as much as possible but it may be a while...sorry :(**

**EDIT: So, I got my computer back and the original version of this chapter was saved! Yay! I'm replacing the already posted one with the original just because I think it has more description and was just better overall. :)**

**I still don't own anything Max related.**

When I woke up I felt Nat curling into my chest, trying to keep warm. I wanted to push her away but since this was her blanket I was using I felt obligated to let her sleep.

I did my best to wiggle out and left the fire behind to see AJ on watch.

"So, who's the better kisser, Nat or Max?" He grinned, punching me in the shoulder. I narrowed my eyes, glaring at him.

"Stop being such a pervert, AJ." I ordered, sitting down and getting comfortable.

"Aw, come on! I didn't mean anything by it." He shrugged, not feeling bad for asking. He leaned back on the cave wall. "Nat's pretty…really pretty. I wish I could meet Max. I bet she's pretty too."

I reached in my back pocket and pulled out the picture I'd taken with me when I left Dr. M's. It was Max and me laughing. We'd been watching Gazzy tag Iggy with a ton of water balloons and Iggy was pissed, naturally making Max and me laugh. I gave it to AJ who looked at it and smiled.

"She has a really pretty smile. She looks really nice too." He added.

"She can be. Don't get on her bad side." Not that I ever planned on him meeting her, but helpful advice in case he did.

"I think all Nat has is a bad side." AJ laughed.

"Not so." I commented, realizing how true it was. The truth was I probably wouldn't even have my Flock without Nat. I hated even speaking, so barking orders was not my thing. Nat was good at it though, a natural born leader. Sometimes I'd suggest something and she'd just make it happen. She was strong, tough, determined…despite that though, she didn't do well with kids. She had tried to explain it to me.

"Fang, I was created to kill things, not nurture them. I don't have a maternal bone in my body. If I ever had a child the only thing I could do is pity it for having me as a mother." She said matter of factly.

I sat thinking that over. That was obviously the complete and total opposite of Max. Max had been mom to kids that weren't even close to being hers. But while Max was a mom, Nat was a drill sergeant. And right now that's what my Flock needed.

I felt Nat's arms wrap around my neck from behind as she kissed me on the cheek.

"Want me to get everyone up?" She whispered. I just nodded and began packing up supplies as the younger kids woke up with groans and began doing the same.

We landed behind the Hilton in Oklahoma City, and began walking toward the entrance. We entered the lobby and I saw Jeb waiting for me on a clean, white couch. I noticed he had a little girl with him, but didn't bother to pay attention to her yet. I was too busy making sure Jeb had kept his word. I didn't see Max or any other Flock members around, so I relaxed a little.

"Fang. It's good to see you." Jeb greeted extending his hand for me to shake. I just glared at him, which didn't surprise him at all. He didn't miss a beat.

"Do you know everyone?' I asked.

"You've picked up one more I see. That's great, Fang. You're really surpassing expectations." Jeb smiled.

"Who's expectations?" My eyes narrowed. I hated feeling like I was a part of a game, with others watching to see the outcome.

"I just mean…I wasn't sure you were cut out for this, but you seem to be doing very well. I'm pleased."

"I'm not. So why am I here?" I asked quickly, getting down to business.

"I wanted you to meet someone. Fang, this is Ruby. I've adopted her, but I have a feeling she'd be better suited with you and your Flock."

I looked down at the small hand that was holding Jeb's nervously and panicked. I saw a pair of curious brown eyes back at me. Ruby's light brown hair was tied back, and there was a fierce look of determination in her eyes. Max. This girl looked exactly like Max, except she was 8 years old. A rush of memories came flooding back from days spent at the E-shaped house, a time when Max and I were best friends and did almost everything together.

The look I gave Jeb was plain enough. 'You've got to be kidding me'.

"We should probably talk in private." Jeb whispered.

"You think?" I shot back.

"We'll get everyone settled in and go from there."

Jeb got us all checked into our rooms and we all rode up the elevator awkwardly. We all stepped off and I pulled Nat to the side.

"I need you to get them all in their rooms. I'll be in the last room talking to Jeb." I ordered her, but I could tell she wasn't happy. She wanted to know what was going on. I ignored her and took Ruby's hand from Jeb.

"Ruby, this is Nat. She's going to help you get comfortable in your room. She's going to be really nice, so have fun with her, okay?" I asked Ruby, my eyes never leaving Nat's.

The order was there and Nat heard it. Be nice and help her out. Nat huffed and took Ruby's hand from mine before I heard her yelp.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, I'm kinda nervous." Ruby apologized, looking at Jeb for reassurance.

"Go ahead, don't be scared. We'll get you in a couple of minutes." Jeb smiled, more fatherly than I ever thought possible of him.

Ruby nodded and followed the others to the first room and followed the Flock in.

Jeb and I went to the room farthest away, knowing there was still a possibility the Flock would hear us.

"What the Hell, Jeb?" I demanded, losing my temper more than normal.

"I know you may be a little confused…" He began

"Confused? You think that's what I am? Who is that girl and why does she look…" Like Max, I didn't bother to finish.

"Let me start from the beginning." Jeb pled his case. I sat on the bed, trying to calm down and hear him out.

"She's from The School. She was smuggled out right before all of the recombinant species were exterminated." Including Ari. "One of my colleagues took her to an orphanage, not that far from here. She contacted me to tell me she was here, knowing about my work with avian hybrids."

I nodded for him to continue.

"There was an accident at the orphanage. Ruby developed a new power. Her skin warms up, to blistering temperatures. Another girl at the orphanage had been harassing Ruby and eventually attacked her. Ruby was upset, lost control of her power, and the other girl now has third degree burns. I've been working with her on controlling her powers, but I'm not qualified to teach her flying, or fighting. She needs a Flock."

"Why me? Why not Max?" I asked nervously.

"There's a few reasons for that. The most important one being that Max has her hands full. Things haven't been the easiest for her lately. She doesn't need any added responsibility right now." He said firmly.

"Is she okay?" I asked urgently.

"Max will be fine. As you can imagine your absence has been difficult for her, but she'll be okay." Jeb reassured me.

My heart ached, knowing that I'd hurt Max, even if it was for her own good. Was it possible that the smiling, happy Max that I'd seen in the picture with Dylan was just a fake? Maybe she did still love me. I shook my head, knowing it didn't matter. Until this was over, there was no going back.

"Why does she look so much like her?" I managed.

"I don't know for sure, Fang. I have theories, but I honestly don't know the whole truth. There are a lot of possibilities."

"Start listing them." I ordered coldly, wanting to know.

"It will only make it worse. I just thought you should have a part of her with you." He said, realizing he'd said too much. He sighed, but continued.

"Itex still has some of your samples. She could be a clone, who will get more like Max as she develops. She could be a relative of hers, if Val donated more than one egg, maybe a little sister…"He trailed, but I could tell he was leaving something out.

"What?" I asked coldly.

"Itex still has samples of your reproductive DNA." Jeb said simply, running his hands through his hair like he did when he was frustrated. I'd seen him do it a million times at the E-shaped house.

"You're telling me that she could be Max's child?" I asked in a combination of disbelief and disgust.

"I don't know who she is Fang! Now, are you going to let her stay, or not?" Jeb asked angrily.

"She can stay. You get out." I ordered, pointing towards the door.

"I was trying to help." He explained before leaving.

"I know. It doesn't make it easier for me though. I'll see you at breakfast in the morning." I answered tersely, slamming the door behind him. I grabbed my pack and walked to the fourth story window of our hotel, throwing myself out. I knew I wouldn't be back until in the morning.


	29. What I need

**I WANT MY COMPUTER BACK! Sorry, I know whining doesn't get me anywhere…just sayin'. Anyway, yeah, I think I'm switching back to Max's POV for the next chapter and any suggestions would be appreciated. Going to be wrapping this up soon. I still don't own Max or Fang or anything Flock related….**

I grabbed the room key out of my back pocket and snuck into the room I was supposed to be sharing with Nat, trying not to wake her up.

I didn't have to worry about that because not only was she up, she was glaring at me.

"What. The. Fuck?" She asked, angrily, throwing a punch to my face. I swept to the right to avoid it and glared back.

"What's your problem?" I asked. I wasn't sure what kind of night she had, but I was pretty sure it was better than mine. I spent most of the night thinking of Max, kicking myself in the ass for ever leaving, no matter what Dylan had told me, and crying. Yes, crying. It doesn't count if no one sees you do it. And believe me, no one saw.

Nat swung at me again, but I saw it coming this time. I'd spent enough nights looking over my shoulder, sleeping in trees, and fighting off Erasers, to know when I was actually in trouble, and this was one of those times. Nat could hurt me if she wanted to, maybe even kill me. So my survival instincts kicked in and I grabbed her arm twisting it behind her back and pressing her down onto the bed.

"I'm. Sorry." I said simply, easing off my grip and letting her move some. That was a mistake. She shifted all her weight on me, making me stumble backwards, twisting so that she was on top of me.

"Not. Good. Enough." She replied, just as stubbornly. To my surprise though, she extended her hand and helped me up.

"I'm leaving." She announced.

Just like that a memory flashed back to my mind. Max and I in the desert, the night I told her that I chose her. Now it was time for Nat to choose…and she wasn't choosing me.

I knew without her, my Flock would crumble apart and fall. I wasn't Max. I wasn't a leader. Max would do anything to keep the Flock together and happy. I couldn't.

Could I?

Nat had already started throwing things in her bag. I grabbed her wrist as she headed for the bathroom to collect her belongings.

"I…I need you." I managed.

"Fang, I'm not good at this. I'm a fighter. I'm a killer. I can't be what those kids need. "

"You are what I need." I said simply, pulling her to me. Then I kissed her. I pulled her on top of me as I fell back on the bed.

I heard her moan as my hand reached the small of her back pulling her closer to me. I broke the kiss long enough to pull her shirt over her head. She pulled me up doing the same. I brushed her hair back and kissed her neck, knowing I was doing exactly what I needed to in order to keep my Flock together. And for some reason, I didn't feel bad about it.

The room was completely bright when I opened my eyes. I looked at the clock and realized I'd been asleep for two hours. I heard a banging at the door and ran my hands through my hair.

"Nat? Fang? Are you guys coming to breakfast?" Luca called through the door, trying the door knob, which thankfully was locked.

"Be right there!" Nat called, pulling herself out of bed and beginning to get dressed. She picked my clothes off of the floor and threw them at me.

"Let's get going."

As we walked down the hall to the elevator I grabbed her hand to hold it.

"What are you doing?" She snapped, grabbing it back.

That was confusing. I mean we just…and she didn't even want me to hold her hand?

"I'm not an idiot. You can hold my hand when it's my hand you feel like holding. Not anyone else's. This doesn't change anything." She said coldly.

"So, you're still leaving?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine. I guess it changes THAT." She smirked.

"Good enough for me." I smiled back slightly, grabbing a muffin and heading back to the table with the others.

I grabbed the seat next to Ruby and slouched down, ruffling her hair. "Morning, squirt." I smirked, feeling only a dull pain inside.

"Miss Sandra calls me chickadee." She smiled, correcting me in a way that sounded exactly like Max. I shot Jeb a look and shook my head.

"Chickadee it is then."


	30. The end of the beginning

**So, I'm not going to lie folks. Writer's block is a bitch. With that being said, it is with a sad heart that I bring to you the last chapter of this fic. This occurs a couple of months before Fractured Flock begins. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions for this fic I will gladly take them and reconsider ending it, but for now, this fic is dead to me. Sad to say. I am writing another one. It is the typical Max gets pregnant and leaves the flock type fic. I should start posting it before too much longer. Anyway, like I said, unless there are any awesome suggestions or I get amazingly inspired, here's the last chapter. Thanks for all the comments and reviews and I'll see you guys via another fic soon. Unfortunately I still don't own Max.**

***Max's POV***

"I love you."

Dammit. He was saying it again. And I still didn't have the guts to say it back. I thought it over, trying to find a different answer than my usual 'thanks'.

As I sat thinking I was saved by Iggy's pounding on the wall next to us. It had become habit and he did it every night. I don't know if it was to tell us good night or to tell us to shut up.

I just laughed nervously and hoped for the best, but I could see the annoyance on Dylan's face.

"Max, he's been gone three years…" Dylan said, knowing full well the reason I wouldn't say it.

"Two years, eight months and twenty four days." I shot back angrily.

This was exactly what I hadn't wanted when Dylan started making moves on me. I should have just said no from the very beginning and stuck with it.

"Max, don't get angry." His expression softened, stroking my wings. It didn't make me feel any better.

"Good night, Dylan." I replied coldly heading for the door.

His hand grabbed mine and instinctively I yanked it back ready to throw a punch. Dylan's hand found my wrist though and pinned it to the door behind me, only to infuriate me more.

He sure knew how to push my buttons today.

"Max, listen to me."

He waited to see if I actually would. I struggled to get out of his grasp but he held tight. Eventually I realized that I could get out, but only if I hurt him. And while I was mad, I hadn't lost control of my emotions. I wouldn't hurt him.

"Listen to me." He ordered, staring at me with a determination that I only saw when he was fighting. That's when I realized he was fighting…for me.

I sighed, and met his eyes reluctantly, feeling myself giving in.

"I am not going to make the same mistakes Fang did."

I felt a quick pain, and a shock of surprise that he had the nerve to actually say his name. He continued nonetheless and I continued to listen.

"If he had the guts to say the words on that paper out loud to you and tell you how he felt, he'd still be here. You wouldn't have let him leave. But no, he had to be that silent, emotionless rock, only opening up to you when he left. That's not me, Max. I love you, and I don't care who knows it, including you."

I was thinking of my response when I felt Dylan push me on the bed, holding me fiercely and kissing me. It felt…wrong, but right enough not to stop it. I suddenly felt guilty for ever calling Iggy a hormonal pervert. I didn't love Dylan. I loved Fang, but I didn't want to stop. I felt a surge of disappointment when Dylan pulled himself away from me.

"I love you, Max." He whispered sweetly, pushing my hair behind my ear.

"I love you too." I lied without thinking. I began pulling his shirt over his head, throwing it on the floor letting the hormones take over.

When I woke up the next morning I was still in Dylan's bed completely naked, and to my own shock I was alone. I saw a piece of paper on the pillow next to mine and began to read it.

Max,

Took the others into town to get groceries. Iggy made breakfast and left you a plate in the fridge. We'll be back soon.

Love you.

Dylan.

I let my head flop back on the pillow with a sigh feeling guilty. What had I gotten myself into? More importantly, how could I get myself out of it?

***Fang's POV***

"I'm so sick of this!" Nat whispered I already knew what was coming my way. We were crammed in the back of a small cave while the others were flying over it, supposedly scouting. I knew Nat had just ordered them to do that so she could yell at me though.

"You spend every waking moment with that stupid little girl! You don't even care about the rest of us! You're always having to teach Ruby something, or you have to make sure Ruby's okay…"Nat mocked in an annoying voice and I found myself losing patience fast.

"Can't we just take her back to the damn orphanage…?"

I lost it. I slammed my hand into the hard, rock wall and pinned myself to her dangerously, my temper getting the best of me.

"We are not taking her to an orphanage. She is staying. And you can either deal with it, or leave." I threatened.

A couple of months ago before Ruby came along I was clinging onto my new Flock for dear life, knowing it was the only thing that could keep me from going back to Max. Now that I had Ruby it was like having a part of Max back and it was enough to keep me going, with or without the others.

I could tell Nat was actually trying to decide whether to stay or to leave and I decided to try and patch things up for now.

"Ruby is a part of the Flock now and she's not leaving just because you're…"

"Being a bitch." AJ supplied, entering the cave and slumping down on the wall behind him. Nat looked ready to pounce on him and I braced myself for a fight.

"Ruby can't leave. She's special." Luca stated with finality. I wondered how she knew that Ruby was important. But then again Luca always seemed to know more than she let on.

"I'm sorry." Ruby apologized, and I felt a surge of anger when I saw that she had a couple tears in her eyes. "I'm trying really hard."

"You're doing just fine, chickadee. None of us are going anywhere, are we?" I asked Nat with narrowed eyes.

"Hmph." Nat turned her back to me, shaking her head and crawling in her sleeping bag.

I just rolled me eyes wondering if 20 years was over yet.


End file.
